Hicchuu Junan
by mikita inugirl
Summary: One heart was raised evil, knowing no other way of life. What if one day she found an equal passion?
1. Chapter 1

**_This story is based off of an RP on Anime Clash. It had such an awesome plot that a fanfic just had to be written about it. –giant creepy smile for no particular reason- This story is being written by me and blackfiend, so I do not take all the credit for this fic. WEEEEEEEEEE!_**

**Hicchuu Junan – Equal Passion**

It was an adrenaline rush, a high-speed chase after the one on foot. Only in her dreams was the magnificent thrill carried on from life itself. Often faced in reality and in the subconscious realm, the action was never dulled for her. Constantly running, always on the move. A life like she had was never easy, but she thrived on it. She hoped for it. She longed for it all: The speed, the deceivance, the chase, the blood… She had grown up around it. She was always subjected to it. The evil emerged as her way of life. She knew no other way but to take what she wanted, when she wanted it, and how she wanted it. The blood-tainted claws sought for nothing but vengeance. Red upon red. Dripping. Seeping. Taking what needed be. The bodies of many corpses lie around her, the majority consisting of males, yet she took no heed in allowing a thought of care to pass her mind.

This individual was cruel and heartless.

The ears of the graceful wolf lifted up to hear ahead of her direction. She was a creature of much resemblance to a human, yet not of their kind. Behind her shifted a downy tail, which she moved to each side of her elegantly. This one's composure was greatly attractive to many, yet the dangers of her presence were overwhelming. Her crystal blue eyes shot toward the sight of the threat.

She was gone in the blink of an eye.

She didn't dare stick around to find out what the law had in store for her capture. They had been after her for quite some time, yet they never succeeded in halting her damages and taking her into custody. So there they were again, trying to track this criminal being down. Lights of both red and blue flashed from all directions of the buildings. The infernal noises irritated her brown canine ears.

She was surrounded.

She seemed to prefer it that way as an evil smile came across her face. Her bloody claws and hands perched on the windowsill from the inside as she looked out upon them. She bore her fangs with a sneaky smile as she leaped out of the building and onto the top of one of the authority vehicles. Lightning fast bullets were fired at her path, yet none of them reached her. Moving at an abnormally high speed even more than that of a cheetah, she smirked victoriously as her feet carried her to a safer distance. Just as she felt out of range of her pursuers, more of them arrived and blocked her way. Her eyes darkened at the sight of them. A growl that resembled the vocals of an actual wolf escaped through her teeth and she jumped up onto the edge of a building.

She lost her footing.

This didn't stop her. Extending her reddened claws, she latched onto the edge and hung there for a bit. Just as she looked up to see what was above her, on top of the building stood the figure of a man with three swords, his eyes peering into hers. She squinted, trying to make out more of the stranger's form, but the sound of a familiar growling opened her eyes.

It was merely a dream.

Mikita had awakened to the noises of her stomach. It was calling out to her with hunger. "Why me?" she groaned. Her slender figure signaled that she never was capable of overeating. She stretched and yawned as she sat up, glancing over at two other sleeping forms. They were motionless, so she assumed that they were still sleeping. Quietly, she stood up and ventured off in search of a meal.

Off the coastline, a small ship sailed towards land, a boy with a straw hat at the front. Next to the mast, a green haired swordsman dozed off, three katanas next to him. Finally the only other person out on deck was a young red haired girl who was studying maps. "Luffy! I think this island is inhabited!" The boy in the straw hat turned to look at her. "Yosh! We'll land here then! Let's go! To the island!" The girl sighed. Why did he have to jump at every chance for adventure? There probably wouldn't even be that much treasure there. And of course Zoro was fast asleep as usual. The swordsman was either training, sleeping on the ship, or arguing with Sanji.

The ship sailed into the shore and four figures came down off the ship. The first three were the same ones who had been on the deck of the ship. The newest one was dressed in black with blond hair. He held a cigarette in one hand. Luffy ran onto the beach they had landed at. "Alright! We're here!" Nami sighed. "Luffy, why are you so excited?" The green haired swordsman sweatdropped. "He probably thinks there's something worth doing here."

It was almost nightfall. Mikita was so hungry. She hadn't eaten much all day. "I gotta find some food soon before I croak," she moaned. She was always on guard, expecting someone to be on her tail, like an officer or an angry villager of some sort. That's when she picked up the scent of something delightful. _What's that wonderful smell?_ She thought to herself as she followed her nose. She had a strong sense of smell like that of a true wolf. It led her to an unfamiliar ship and she observed it carefully. Looking around her to make sure that no one was in sight to stop her, she sneered and followed the smell.

Once she got inside, she looked around the strange boat. The wooden floorboards creaked and squeaked as she walked in certain places and she mindlessly shushed the noises as she crept along. She smelled many scents of the people who had been on the boat not long ago. _Humans._ The smell entered her nose again and it led her to the kitchen area of the ship. That's where she found it. There was food left over from where the chef had made it and it wasn't finished. She began to drool as she quietly said, "Food…" She licked the drool off of her mouth and took hold of a well-cooked fish. Her mouth took great delight in its taste as she ripped a large chunk off of it with her pointy incisors. She chewed it up quickly and gulped it down, dropping small torn pieces on the boat's floor. She didn't want to hang around there for too long, so she had to think of something to carry the food in. Spotting a black piece of cloth nearby, she picked it up and sniffed it. "Ugh! It reeks of human, a man none the less." She detested humans, especially males, but she shrugged it off and wrapped as much food up in it as she could.

Zoro had been assigned to watch over the ship while the others went exploring. He had Chopper to keep him company, but the reindeer was now asleep in bed. He had actually been half sleeping in the bird's nest, until he heard a noise below. He saw a figure entering the kitchens. It wouldn't be Luffy, the captain wouldn't need to use stealth, and it had the wrong frame for any of the other crewmembers. He saw it reappear as it tried to leave. He casually slipped over the edge of the bird's nest and landed almost gracefully behind the figure.

Mikita sensed this and her acute hearing picked up a tiny frequency of sound as one ear turned to the direction of the sound. She turned her head quickly and saw the figure similar to the one in her dream. This seemed like a strange coincidence to her as her eyes widened, soon turning to a coldly neutral gape. She stared him down for a bit, watching him closely for any sudden movements. She glanced at the sack of food, and then back at him again. After thinking for a bit, she snatched her pilfered delicacy and ran off in the other direction to exit the ship.

It was Zoro's job to guard the ship, so that's what he did. He jumped quickly to one side drawing the Yubashiri and slashing at the figure. He now could make out a wolf tail and wolf ears on the figure. It distracted him somewhat and so rather than striking at a vital point his attack slipped into attacking an arm.

His attack slashed a large wound into Mikita's arm as she snarled and jumped away, glaring at him. Her deep sapphire eyes never left his. Her arm was dripping blood, but she didn't show that it affected her as she leered into his eyes. She sensed him as a definite threat as she took a step back while growling and revealing her fangs. She placed one hand over her arm while still strongly keeping an eye on him. It appeared as if she was only covering up her sore arm, but when she moved her hand away the wound was gone. There was no sign of a cut or blood anywhere on her arm. She was a healer. Her eyes narrowed even more as she asked, "Who are you?"

Zoro drew out his other two swords, sliding one of them into his mouth. "Roronoa Zoro." These were the only words from him as he charged at Mikita with several rapid slashes. He wasn't necessarily trying to kill her, but it was his job to protect the ship, and that included the food. If he could just chase her off then he'd have done his job.

Mikita wasn't willing enough to back down. She never turned away from a fight, and this one seemed quite interesting to her. She dodged his repeated attacks and once she saw her opportunity, she drew her sword to block his swords in a cross. She held strong with their impact as she studied him a bit. "You're a mere human. What makes you think that you could surpass me?"

Zoro broke the staredown and spun low, performing several low sweeping slashes that came close to harming the wolf girl. "Because. I'm going to become the strongest swordsman in the world." Immediately following his low sweeps, he tried to kick Mikita in the stomach.

Mikita had seen the kick coming soon enough before he attempted it, so she was able to counter the move. It wasn't easy, for this particular opponent was swift and skilled. She had just enough reaction time to do a vertical slash across the front of her. Once the blade of her weapon came into contact with Zoro's leg, it quickly separated into many links and wrapped around his leg like a whip. To many enemies, this was an element of surprise. It all happened in a rushed motion and she instantly jerked up on the handle to attempt to trip him, or at least throw him off balance.

Zoro reacted by making an off poise slash at her, but the whip-like blade threw him way off balance, and his slashing speed was slowed by it. He regained it and quickly dashed forwards, putting all three swords in one direction and running right up to Mikita. "Gazami Dori!" He quickly made a clamping motion with the blades to decapitate her.

Mikita pulled her head back to avoid this action, but his attack was still too quick for her and his swords nicked both sides of her neck insignificantly. They had penetrated the skin just enough to bring a bit of blood and Mikita surely felt their sting as she cringed. This also threw her off balance and she fell backwards on the ground. She growled at the swordsman and noticed that he was very close to her, still running at her, so she rolled aside as he passed her. Rushing back up to her hands and feet, she spun around and leaped onto his back. Her claws pierced into his shoulders and she had the idea of sinking her fangs into his neck, which would finish him off.

Zoro staggered as Mikita's blow struck true, drawing blood. As she came in to bite he twisted his head so that his third sword blocked her. He thrusted with his free hand at her gut. "What the hell are you doing on this ship?"

Mikita leaped off of him and glowered at him. "What's it to you?" She was only hungry and she had no way to acquire food other than to steal it. Besides, she was cruel and heartless so she didn't care if it meant taking from others. She looked harshly into his eyes with the intent to kill. "You'd better pray you live through this." She dashed toward him, hoping to deliver the final blow.

Zoro saw her coming in for the kill. He crossed his arms over his chest, holding both swords vertically. He entered a half crouch. "You're the one that should be praying!" He waited until the last possible moment before dashing forwards and slashing with all three swords in an asterix pattern, extremely quickly. "Oni Giri!"

Mikita was halted in her tracks, seeing this attack fly after her so quickly. It was all so sudden and painful as it tossed her forcefully to the ground, taking the breath from her momentarily. She struggled to sit up again, only to be met with the tip of his sword pointed at her neck. His fearful eyes shot to her flashes of death and loss of the battle as her glare stated, _Do it. Kill me already._ It was as if her eyes were criticizing him, testing him as to see if he would follow through.

Zoro dropped the blade to Mikita's throat. He was ready to end it now. A quick thrust and it would be over. There was a brief pause. Zoro gave his head half a shake. This wasn't right; an opponent should be defeated within a battle, not pinned down by an opponent's blade. Besides, he didn't exactly _want_ to kill this person. There was a yell from offside, and Zoro turned just in time to see a familiar figure snap kick him in the throat. He fell over backwards and got right back up, coughing up some blood. "What the hell are you doing Ero-cook!" Sanji glared at Zoro. "What kind of man attacks a woman? Is that your 'honor' Zoro?" The swordsman growled. "You're asking for it..." He started slashing at the cook, who responded with a rapid succession of kicks. "Oni Giri!" "Mutton Shot!" Now the Going Merry was started to shake with the climactic battle of two of the strongest members of the Strawhats going at it.

Mikita sat there and watched the feud. _That's strange._ _That man wants to protect me?_ She sat there and blinked a couple times before she stood up slowly and cautiously, thinking that the green-haired swordsman would notice her and try to come at her again. To her surprise, he was too busy fighting with the other guy that interrupted. Once she realized that she had the perfect opportunity to escape unnoticed, she grabbed her sack of food and snuck off.

The young wolf returned to her area of residence in the middle of the forest. A squirrel scurried up the tree as she walked by carrying her sack of goodies. As Mikita approached her habitation, she could see the light from the fire. _Leona and Karasu must have made a fire. _

Next to the fire, a girl with short raven hair that barely reached her shoulders was poking the firewood. "Poke… poke… poke… poke."

"Are you amusing yourself?" the girl on the other side of the fire asked. She had much longer hair of the same color and it was wavy.

"Yeah, but it would be more amusing if I had some food to put in it… Maybe we can put something of Mikita's in it. Go get her shirt that's hanging over there."

"I leave you two alone for a few hours and you're already plotting against me. Why am I stuck with such idiot sisters? It's just not fair," Mikita stated as she walked up behind the shorthaired girl. "Karasu, why are you poking the fire with a stick?"

Karasu looked back at her and pointed her stick at Mikita. "I'm waiting for some big ass to bring me my food! You probably kept it all for yourself fat ass!"

Mikita raised an eyebrow. "Just because my butt's bigger than yours doesn't mean it's fat."

"Whatever big ass," Karasu shrugged as she resumed poking the fire. Karasu was smaller than her sisters, so she chose to tease them for what she didn't have as much of. Mikita rolled her eyes and dropped the sack of food next to them.

The girl with long wavy hair leaped at the sack and tore it open, slinging food everywhere. "You got any peaches in here?"

"No Leona. No peaches. Just a bunch of fish and bread." Mikita said before having a fish slapped into her face. She caught it and looked at it for a moment, but then Karasu snatched it from her.

"Fish!" Karasu exclaimed as she tore into it. She spit a bite out and yelled, "Eww! It's freakin' cold!" Looking at her stick gave her an idea as she poked the fish with the stick and stuck it over the fire.

Leona took a piece of bread and did the same. "I'm making toast!" They both smiled while holding their food over the fire, which burst into flames at the same moment. Leona took hers out of the fire and looked at it. It was burned black. "Uhh… too toasty."

"Mine's not cooked enough yet," Karasu stated while still holding her black fish over the fire.

Mikita rolled her eyes and walked over to a nearby tree, leaning back against it. She folded her arms behind her head, remembering her fight with the green haired swordsman. _Why did I nearly lose to that mortal? He's… stronger than me. That can't be! I won't stand for it!_ Her angry stare focused on nothing in particular as she remained in deep thought.

Leona's bread broke in half and she dropped it. "Oh well. So much for my toast." She then noticed Mikita's expression and wondered what was going through her head. "So, where did you go today to get this food?"

"Eh, just this ship that landed on shore not too long ago," Mikita casually replied.

Leona knew there was something else about her little trip that she wasn't mentioning. She leaned over toward Karasu and whispered, "Will you do the honors?"

Karasu smiled sneakily and focused on Mikita, reading her thoughts. "Oh she's just thinking about some green haired swordsman that she lost to in a battle today… He sounds so cute! Too bad he's a guy."

Mikita looked at her and smirked. "Would you prefer the green haired one to be a girl then?"

Karasu thought about that for a moment and then slipped into a daze.

Leona rolled her eyes. "This could take a while." She looked at Mikita and asked, "So what happened between you and this swordsman?"

"He wouldn't let me steal from his ship, so we got in this fight… yeah. Whatever, but I got away because this perverted guy came and saved me…"

"Ahh yes. The blonde," Leona replied.

Mikita looked at her strangely. "How did you know that? Oh, did you have one of those visions of yours again?"

"Maybe," Leona replied while folding her fingers together. She looked at Mikita as if she knew something that Mikita didn't.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" Mikita asked while raising an eyebrow at her sister.

Leona smiled. "No reason… except that I know something you don't."

"Don't you always?"

"Well yeah… but this time it's something that you'll be really skeptical about." Leona shifted a bit with her legs crossed Indian style.

"Oh? And what would that be?"

"I would just be friends with her!" Karasu interrupted suddenly. "Jeez you're slow!" She yelled the last sentence ironically since her reply should have been made minutes ago.

Leona and Mikita sweatdropped as they stared at her awkwardly. Karasu noticed a rock on the ground and started using her telekinesis to push it across the ground. She was speaking quickly while saying, "Shove. Shove. Shove. Shove. Shove."

Mikita shook her head and looked at Leona. "So, what is it that I should know?"

"Well… You're not going to believe me, so why should I tell you?" Leona was avoiding having to answer Mikita because she knew that it would make her mad.

"Because if you don't, you can just starve. I won't bring you any more food." Mikita smiled sneakily. "And you won't get any peaches."

Leona's eyes opened wide. "But I have to have my peaches!"

"Then tell me what you saw," Mikita reasoned.

"Well…" She was still hesitating and this was irritating Mikita.

"Tell me damn it!" Mikita demanded.

"You're going to fall in love one day!" Leona yelled before smacking her hand over her own mouth.

Mikita didn't respond to this at first, but then she burst out laughing. "You think I am going to fall in love? Me, the one that hates men the most out of all of us?" She held her stomach and resumed laughing.

Leona narrowed her eyes at Mikita. "You calling me a liar?"

"No… I mean uhh, yes? I think so… Why in the hell would I fall in love? Better yet, who would I fall in love _with_?" Mikita then laughed a little more.

Leona just grinned. "You'll see that I'm right. You will see."

Mikita's laughter was brought to a halt and she leered at Leona. "Oh really? Who's it going to be? Humor me."

"I said you'll see."

Karasu then blurted out a random answer. "It's that green-haired cutie isn't it? Not that I care because I hate men!"

Leona elevated an eyebrow at Karasu. "Do you now?"

Karasu looked at Leona and lowered her eyebrows, using her telekinesis to throw the little rock at her head. "Don't you look at me like that! I'm not a monkey!"

Leona gave her the baffled look again. "OW! Where'd that come from?"

"Your mama!" Karasu retorted, not really making any sense.

Leona paused for a little bit before sighing and replying, "Whatever. Your arguments are so pointless."

"No you can't!" Karasu's comeback didn't really meet standards and she neglected to notice it as she looked aside at a leaf. "Oh look a leaf!" She then began to push it with her powers just as she did to the rock. "Shove. Shove. Shove."

Mikita looked at Karasu with a confused expression, as did Leona, but neither of them felt the need to carry on a pointless disagreement. Not if it involved Karasu anyway. Mikita then turned to Leona once again. "Tell me what you saw," she demanded again.

"You're going to have to wait. I told you what I saw, just not _who_ I saw. Okay?"

"Fine. Be that way," Mikita snapped as she crossed her arms and leaned back against the tree. "I still don't believe it's going to happen anyway, so why should it matter to me?"

"Because it's true. You may not believe me now, but one day you will."

Mikita glared at her and sighed. "Here comes that speech. 'Everybody needs somebody. Nobody wants to be alone. Everyone has that need.' Save it. You've mentioned it enough already."

"Obviously not enough."

"Look! Just because you had relationship trouble doesn't make me susceptible to that!"

Leona looked at her angrily. "Doesn't it? Are my visions ever wrong?"

"They are this time. Besides, you didn't see the betrayal that was coming your way."

"Don't bring up Lutious! That was my fault, not his!"

"How was it your fault? He should have known to fight off that spell instead of subduing to it like a pansy!"

"He tried!" Leona yelled back while getting watery eyes. "He tried to fight it… but by the time he tried to reason with me it was too late."

"He deserved to die. That weak pervert."

"Don't talk about him like that! I loved him! And he loved me!"

"Yeah. Sure he did," Mikita replied sarcastically. "That's exactly why you killed him isn't it? Because you loved him."

"Stop it Mikita! You don't understand! You never will!"

Mikita grinned. "Exactly. I'm not going to give my heart to a man like a retard."

"So are you calling me a retard?"

"Yep."

Leona was hurt. She blinked her tears away and stood up. "Fine. Believe what you want, but don't you ever bring this up again."

"And if I do?"

Leona didn't answer her as she walked off and leaned on a log. _She never had someone to love. She's never cared so much for a man and then had her heart broken. I can see why she doesn't want to, but she needs to love and be loved… and one day she will. They're not all the same._ She looked up at the stars. "Lutious…"

Karasu was crawling closer to Leona as she pushed the leaf with her powers. "Shove. Shove. Shove. Hey Leona. You wanna push the leaf?"

Leona just looked over at her silly sister. "No thanks. Knock yourself out."

Karasu shrugged. "Okay. If you say so." She slammed her head onto the ground forcefully. She then repeated that motion a few times. "It's not working!"

Leona sighed. "I didn't mean that literally." Sometimes being the older sibling was a big pain. Karasu was the youngest out of the three, leaving Mikita as the one in-between. Leona wanted for her sisters to find love as she once did, and she wanted to find a relationship anew. _One day it'll happen… One day soon_. Leona smiled and closed her eyes.

Mikita sat there awake in deep thought. _I will never fall in love. The nerve of her telling me that I will have feelings for one of them. It will never happen. No matter what, I'll never allow her to be right. _Mikita had a big ego in this sense. She never allowed others to be right, and so she convinced herself that she would never fall for a man. Ever.


	2. Chapter 2

The Strawhat's ship was still shaking from the battle on board. "Collier Shoot!"

"Tora Gari!"

Again the attacks met, sending the fighters flying backwards across the ship from the sheer force of their blows. "Concasseur!"

"Tatsumaki!"

And again... Finally a very pissed off navigator smashed them both over the head with her fists, and knocked them out.

"You guys need to cool off!" She then kicked them off the ship into the freezing cold water, which blasted them out of unconsciousness immediately. Zoro and Sanji were both shivering. They both suddenly realized that the intruder had disappeared and commenced yelling at each other furiously.

This probably would have erupted into another fight, if not for a terrified yell from the ship's kitchen. The two of them shot back onto the ship and charged into the kitchen to see their captain panicking. "What is it Luffy?"

The Strawhat captain stopped. "Someone stole some of our food!" Everyone in the room faceplanted. "THAT'S WHAT YOU WERE PANICKING ABOUT?" A kick was sent to Luffy's jaw, sending him crashing into a wall.

Sanji lowered his leg back down. "If you're so hungry, then go buy some food from that city nearby."

Nami nodded in agreement. "That's a good idea. We'll need to replace what was stolen, and restock anyways. Zoro, you should go."

Zoro turned to the navigator. "Why do I have to go?"

Sanji tried to kick him again. "Listen to what Nami-swan says!"

The girl turned to him. "Sanji, you're going too!"

"Yes Nami-swan!"

Zoro sighed and started walking over to the door back out to the deck. "Whatever, I'll go myself..." He opened the door and jumped off the ship, heading towards where he thought the city would be. "The city's just west of here... so I guess I go left then." He headed off to the left. The downside? The city was off to the right.

Mikita wasn't very good with direction either as she looked around. "Now which way was that ship? Hmm…" She scratched her head lightly in thought. "I know! I'll just follow the scent of the food again!" She sniffed the air and her eyes shot open. _I know that scent. _Following the familiar scent, she took off after it in hopes of finding the ship again, or perhaps something else. She licked her fangs and looked at her claws. _I will not be defeated this time._

Sanji hopped off the ship. "I'll be back soon Nami-swaaan!" He headed off in the proper direction of the city.  
Meanwhile, poor Zoro was now lost and walking around in circles. "That's weird. The city must have moved. I headed exactly west."

Mikita backed around a tree cautiously. "I know he's around here somewhere. I'll kill him this time." She wasn't aware of anything that was behind her as she walked in reverse around the tree.

Zoro sensed a presence nearby. He started walking backwards cautiously, his hand at the hilts of his swords. He then felt someone bump into him from behind.

It was a tree that Zoro had backed into. Mikita noticed this and turned around. She came out from behind that tree. "What are you doing running into trees? Jeez you're stupid. You could at least watch where you're going."

He looked at her and dropped his hand to his sword hilt. "So. It's you again?"

"Nah, I'm a figment of your imagination," Mikita stated rudely and sarcastically. She was now on guard and watching his every move.

Zoro's hand was still on the sword. "So, have you come to conclude our battle?"

Mikita's eyes shone with revenge as she narrowed her eyes at the swordsman. She moved her fingers and cracked them, perhaps for intimidation and to warn him that she was accepting his challenge.

"Look! It's that green-haired cutie!" A voice familiar to Mikita cried in a high-pitched irritating tone.

"Karasu?" Mikita exclaimed in confusion. "What are you doing here? Why did you follow me?"

Leona smiled and followed not too far behind Karasu. "Ooh this one's charming. I approve."

Mikita growled at them as they approached. This was supposed to be her revenge, and now they have interfered.

Zoro turned around and stared at them. "Who the hell are you?"

"Ooh he reminds me of you Miki. That's for sure," Leona said as she studied Zoro. "I'm sure you two would get along just fine."

Mikita acquired an anime anger vein on her forehead. "You mean to tell me that this guy is the one you saw in your vision?"

Leona grinned. "Maybe."

Mikita tapered her eyes and circled her sister. "You must have your rituals mixed up. When two rivals fight, it does not mean that they will end up together, especially if one despises men."

"I saw it in my vision, and they never lie," Leona smiled.

Mikita raised an eyebrow skeptically. "You obviously misinterpreted your screwed up future lies."

Karasu walked closer to Zoro and looked at his hair. "Such bright green hair. Can I touch it?"

Zoro didn't really listen to the conversation. He was busy sizing each person up. When Karasu asked him if she could touch his hair he glared at her. "Knock yourself out." He went back to glaring at everyone in the clearing.

"If you say so, but it's not gonna work. I tell ya that much," Karasu replied. She walked over to a tree and started hitting her head repeatedly against it.

Mikita shook her head in disappointment at Karasu. "I still don't see why I travel with you idiots anyway. I'm the only one here that truly despises men. You two just think you do."

"You can't speak for me," Leona replied. "I know I may have hated Lutious before, but mostly I hated myself for not seeing—"

"Yeah. Yeah. For not seeing that it was a spell before killing him. I know. I know, just shut up about it already."

"You're really insensitive. You know that?"

"Yes I am well aware of my attitude. Unlike some people, I'm not giving my heart in to some fool."

"Lutious was not a fool! I was the fool!"

"It was his fault and you know it!"

"How was it his fault?"

"He went off that night to see her like the pervert he was! He told you that he was going out for some air, but what did he do? He went and confronted that witch!"

Leona was quiet after that. She knew that Lutious was a pervert and quite lecherous before he had met her, but she didn't believe that he would do such a thing as to cheat on her. "He loved me. He would never—"

"Oh stop telling yourself lies Leona! He was a two-timing lecher and you know it!"

"That was before! …He changed." Leona was trying her best to think positively about the way he was, but in a way Mikita was right. Although he did love her, he still couldn't stop flirting with other women.

Mikita smirked, seeing that she had made her point in a sense. "Yes. He changed," Mikita replied in a secretly sarcastic manner. She rolled her eyes and looked at Zoro, lowering her eyebrows fiercely. "Just like they all change." She eyed him up and down quickly before turning to look at Karasu. "And that one over there doesn't know what to believe. She can't think for herself, so she says she hates them, although she flirts with each guy she sees every chance she gets."

"I self for my think!" Karasu yelled out before continuing to bash her head against the tree.

Mikita shook her head in disappointment. "And I suppose you don't have 'dain bramage' either."

"Fine is the… My fine is…" Karasu couldn't form sentences now and she fell over on the ground twitching.

"I thought she couldn't knock herself out." Leona said in confusion while looking at her sister on the ground.

"She can't," Mikita replied. "She has a hard head and a case of narcolepsy. She's just sleeping. If you'd stop daydreaming once in a while, you'd know these things."

"Let it go Mikita!" Leona yelled with her arms stiffened at her sides. She then turned and stormed off back toward their place in the forest.

"Not on your life!" Mikita shouted back at Leona as she watched her walk off. She made a sound of aggravation and looked over at Zoro. "Why are you still here? What the hell do you want anyway?"

Zoro smirked at her. "It was so very interesting to listen to your arguments. That's all."

Mikita glared at him. She didn't like his sneakiness and she felt that he was up to something. "What are you lost or something? Beat it. You're in my territory." Her cold eyes stared into his and waited for him to leave. She didn't trust him as far as she could throw him.

Zoro glared back. "Like I give a shit. I'm just trying to find the city."

"Then go find the damn city and get out of my face!" Mikita snapped. She bore her teeth in anger.

"Stop threatening the green haired cutie!" Karasu yelled in her sleep. She then twitched again as she remained asleep.

_She's a creepy person._ Mikita shivered at the creepy thoughts of her little sister. She then looked at Zoro in frustration. "I do not wish to fight you, so get lost… although you already are." She smirked with her insult.

Zoro growled dangerously. "I'm not lost! I know exactly where I'm going! The city was on the left side of the map, so I'm going left!"

"I don't care which way you go! Just _go_ away!" She got fed up with him and threw blades of fire from her claws at him.

Zoro jumped over the fire blades and drew his Yubashiri. "So, you do want to finish our match?"

"I already told you I don't wish to fight you! Didn't I tell you to go away?" Mikita had witnessed his potency once already, and deep inside she knew that he surpassed her in strength. Although she never turned down a fight, she was determinably trying to avoid this one.

Zoro smirked as he sheathed his sword. "You've got an odd way of showing it." He started to walk off, still looking for the city.

Mikita watched him walk away. She had her chance right then and there to face him, but she knew that she wasn't up to standards for that battle. She felt so weak at that moment and it frustrated her. She clenched her fists as he disappeared from her sight. "One of these days… I _will_ kill you Roronoa Zoro."

Meanwhile, Sanji had returned to the ship with food. "Nami-swan! Robin-chwan!!! I'm back!"

A woman with black hair looked over the top of her book at Sanji. "So I see. But where's Mr. Swordsman?"

Nami sighed as she looked over a map. "He probably got lost. Don't worry, he'll find his way back."

Back at the sisters' area of the forest, Mikita sat leaned against a tree in thought and anger again. She was mad about the earlier incident with the swordsman.

Leona noticed this and said, "There you are mad again. You're always mad about something." Karasu was asleep and twitching near Leona.

"Shut up," Mikita stated rudely as she kept her arms crossed.

"Are you still mad because you lost to a human, a _male_ human?"

"I said shut the fuck up!"

Leona just smiled. "Like I said, you're always mad."

"Why aren't you still mad?"

"I'm over it. It doesn't matter."

"You're too weird."

"And you're too evil. How do you expect to defeat him, or anyone as strong as he is for that matter, if you can't wield the Dragon Tail to its fullest potential?"

Mikita glared at the ground. "Only a kind heart can access the Dragon Tail's fullest powers."

"And you can't be one of those?"

Mikita looked up at Leona. "It's not as easy as you think it is. Do I look like a kind heart to you? Does it _look_ like I want to be a romantic sissy?"

"Could be, deep inside you could very well be. Give love a chance and you'll see."

Mikita raised an eyebrow at her sister. "You disgust me with your optimism. Besides, how do you expect me to feel kindness towards a man? That's simply not going to happen. I'll lay that on the line right now."

"Whatever you say Miki." Leona stated with a smile, though not quite loud enough for Mikita to hear. "Whatever you say."

Zoro had given up his search for the city and was now asleep in the top of a tree. At the Going Merry, Luffy was stuffed and fast asleep. Sanji had prepared a gorgeous breakfast for the next day and was still cooking. Chopper was asleep at the mast. Robin was reading her book. Usopp and Nami were also fast asleep.

Leona and Karasu were in dreamland, but Mikita wasn't granted the access to be there at the moment. She was too annoyed with her thoughts. _What am I supposed to be? How can I be more powerful by being kind hearted? It just doesn't make sense._ Mikita grunted and rolled over on her other side. _Men are fools. There's no way I could ever trust them… Leona was wrong. I wasn't meant to love, but how can I be like my mother? How will I wield the Dragon Tail without this 'love' nonsense? How could a demon like myself ever be capable or even worthy of love? Why am I even thinking of this shit anyway? _Mikita sighed and closed her eyes.

As morning crept over the horizon, it revealed the Strawhat pirate flag, fluttering in the breeze. Sanji had refrigerated breakfast so it would still be perfect in the morning. He was the second to get up, the first being Robin, and he immediately began to work with what he had made the previous night. The meals he made looked like they belonged on the most luxurious of ships, instead of a small pirate ship like this one.

Farther off in the island, there were several dead wolves with slash marks through them. A certain green haired pirate hunter was still wandering around. "Damn it! I can't find the ship _or_ the city now!"

Mikita opened her eyes and sat up to a hungry stomach making noises again. She hadn't eaten much the previous day and neither did her sisters. _I have to eat something. Humans taste nasty. I'm sick and tired of eating them like a cannibal. I want some of that food that I stole from that ship._ Mikita then sneered with an idea. _Since that fool seemed to be lost, I may not have to confront him while I return to that ship_. She sat up and was about to rise to her feet when Leona spoke up. "And just where are you off to? Going to see your boyfriend?"

Mikita glared back at her remark. "I have no feelings whatsoever toward that male. Get that through your head. I'm going to get us some food."

"Well I'm coming with you this time. I want to see this place you went to when you got that delicious food. Besides, I want to meet the chef."

"Go?" Karasu jumped up out of her sleep. "Go where? I want to go! Will there be cuties there?"

Mikita sighed. "Come on. It's this way."

Finally, Usopp and Nami were awake and putting repairs on the ship. Although everyone on the ship was up and running when a certain voice called from the kitchens. "Oi! Nami-swan! Robin-chwan! I've made these dishes for you!" He passed the two women meals that looked simply spectacular. When Luffy tried to eat those, Sanji kicked him in the head. "If you guys are so hungry, there are leftovers in the kitchen." The remaining people on the ship charged into the kitchens where it began to sound like a bomb had gone off.

Mikita and her sisters arrived at the ship. "There it is," Mikita stated as they walked closer.

"Do you think someone's there?" Karasu asked curiously.

Mikita heard sounds from inside the ship, so she knew that the ship wasn't unoccupied. "Judging by the sounds of things, there seems to be someone in there."

"More than one person," Leona added.

Karasu stood there and blinked a couple times. She could even see the ship moving around due to all the bustle inside. "So are we going in or not?"

Mikita gave her a flat look and sarcastically said, "Be my guest."

"Yay!" Karasu exclaimed as she ran toward the ship, taking Mikita's words literally.

"Karasu!" Leona stifled her quick yell as she ran after her.

Mikita rolled her eyes. "Oh boy. This isn't going to be pretty."

Sanji sighed. "Those idiots are such pigs..." He heard noise over the side of the ship and walked over to the rail. "Has that idiot come back ye-" He broke off as he saw Karasu, Mikita and Leona. "OH! Ladies! Up here!" He was waving both his arms, with hearts in his eyes.

Leona had tackled Karasu to the ground and they were wrestling, but they looked up at Sanji when he called to them. Mikita walked up to her sisters and jerked them to their feet. "Apparently we don't have to sneak anymore."

"We're being invited in," Leona said as she smiled lightly at Sanji. _It's him._

When Leona sent that small smile at him, the hearts in Sanji's eyes got even bigger. "Come on in! Please! If you're hungry I can make you ladies something!"

Luffy then called from the kitchens. "Hey Sanji! If you're going to cook more, then can you get some more for us?"

Sanji suddenly turned dark and snapped at Luffy. "GET IT YOURSELF!" He then turned back to the girls and was flirtatious again.

Leona's cheeks flushed a little when she saw Sanji's reaction. Karasu pushed her sisters out of the way and ran toward the ship, Leona following soon after her. Mikita sighed in aggravation as she followed. _Oh great. More people._ Mikita wasn't exactly the social type, but like her sisters she was hungry.

Sanji took a quick look at the three of them and dashed off to the kitchens, kicking Luffy, Usopp and Chopper out. Forcefully. There were now sounds of him cooking on high speeds. Luffy got back up and adjusted his straw hat. He then looked at the three. "Oh, hi. Who are you?"

Leona was the first to show kind consideration. "Hi, I'm—"

"Not interested," Mikita rudely interrupted as she studied the people on board the ship.

Karasu went up to Luffy and shook his hand wildly. "Hi I'm Karasu! Want to see who can hold their breath longer?" Mikita signaled to Luffy not to accept her challenge.

Luffy nodded. "OK! On three! One, two, three! Gomu Gomu no Balloon!" He inhaled deeply, swelling up like a balloon until he took up a third of the deck.

Karasu didn't even take in a breath as small, lightly visible scales appeared on various parts of her body. Mikita sighed. "She's a dragon demon. She can breathe through her scales. She can go without breathing for days."

"At least she found someone who can actually stand up to her challenges," Leona giggled. She looked toward the kitchen, listening to what Sanji was cooking up.

Usopp looked at Karasu. "Oi... but doesn't that count as breathing in a contest like this?" Sanji came out of the kitchen with a meal that perfectly suited each of the three. He'd even managed to arrange the food so that it matched their outfits.

"Not technically. She _is_ holding her breath. The scales take in oxygen for her, but its not exactly breathing as you do through your nose. I guess it depends on how you look at it," Mikita shrugged. She kept her eye on Sanji and then looked at the food, licking her fangs. Leona smiled at Sanji, seeing how much trouble he went through just to feed her and her sisters.

Sanji gave a bow to Leona and Mikita as he passed them their meals, which looked like they'd been prepared by a chef from the heavens, and tasted the same. He then walked over to Luffy and kicked him hard in the stomach, causing him to let out all the air in him, and whiz around like a balloon with a hole. "It's impolite to make a woman wait for her meal." He passed Karasu her meal.

Karasu jumped with joy. "Yay! I win!" She then saw her food. "YAY FOOD!" That's when she dug in happily.

"Thank you," Leona said to Sanji as she sat down and gladly accepted the meal. Mikita took her meal and ate it in a corner away from the others.

Sanji gave a low bow. "It's impolite of someone to not know the names of those he serves." He looked among the three of them expectantly.

Leona was the first to answer Sanji's question. "My name is Leona. Nice to meet you," she stated with a gentle smile.

"I'm Karasu," Karasu muffled through a full mouth.

Mikita ignored the idea of answering him. "I have no name."

Karasu swallowed her food and blurted out, "Yes you do Mikita." That probably wasn't such a good thing either.

Farther off, Zoro finally reached the city. "Ah, here it is!" He managed to get into the food shop and buy several things Sanji would need for cooking. As he started to exit the town, he began thinking back on the conversation from the night before. _What the hell was that they were talking about love? It's useless anyways. Why the hell am I even thinking about it? I never want to become like that Ero-cook. He's probably why I hate the idea so much._

Sanji smiled brightly. "So, would you prefer to be called Leona-swan, or Leona-chwan? Same to you Karasu and Mikita! Tell me now!" He was apparently eager to get their answers. Nami simply sighed, while Robin gave a slight chuckle and kept reading her book.

Leona smiled charmingly at Sanji. "Feel free to call me whatever you like."

"Doesn't matter to me either," Karasu said with a full mouth.

Mikita had her arms crossed and she stood up. "Call me either of those things and you will die." She then decided to walk outside the ship and think to herself. _That pervert is irritating. What does Leona see in him? Her and her stupid soft spot for lechers. It's probably because of her that I will never fall in love. It's only a waste of time and only ends up with someone getting hurt. I'll never allow myself to be such a fool._ She then smelled the scent of the green haired swordsman getting closer. _Oh great. As if I didn't have enough problems already._

Sanji smiled. "All right then Leona-swan, Karasu-chwan, and Mikita-sama!" He said the 'sama' with a touch of a flirtatious note, playing on the fact Mikita had said not to call her either of the two he'd already suggested.

Mikita glared back at Sanji for calling her that, but she turned away once again. "Hn. Pervert."

Leona blushed slightly and took a bite of her food. When she swallowed it, she then said, "I'm a swan? I like that." She gave him a flirty smile.

As Zoro was leaving town he noticed a wanted poster board on the wall. He noticed that everyone on his ship had been given new bounties, so he tore down those posters to hand out to the other people on the ship. One wanted poster made him stop though. It matched the description of the girl he'd fought the previous night...

Sanji not only had hearts for eyes this time, but also had them floating around his head. "KAWAII!!!" Nami gave a sigh and walked over to Mikita. "So. He's already driven you crazy?"

"It's not that hard," Mikita replied as she sighed in aggravation.

Zoro was moving back towards the ship the wanted posters under his arm. The problem was, he had no idea how to get back to the ship.

Mikita noticed that Zoro's scent was now getting farther away from the ship and she smirked. "That moron is getting even more lost. How pathetic can one man be?"

Nami shrugged. "Your friends seem to be enjoying him."

Mikita rolled her eyes. "That's because they're different from me."

Sanji was now serving Leona and Karasu seconds. Luffy was actually flattened out by his ride around the ship. And Usopp... well, he was busy telling various tall tales and lies to Chopper, who was believing every single one of them.

Karasu laughed in Luffy's expense. "Ha! Loser!" She then resumed eating.

Leona looked at Sanji thoughtfully. "Thanks again…" She ended her sentence since he hadn't told her his name yet.

Sanji suddenly seemed to realize he hadn't mentioned his name. "Oh! My name's Sanji! Sorry, that was so impolite of me Leona-swan."

"Sanji… That is such a charming name," Leona said as she twirled a strand of her hair.

Luffy was laughing back at Karasu for absolutely no reason. Nami sweatdropped as she looked at Luffy. She covered her face with one hand. "I like to pretend I don't know them."

"I can see why," Mikita replied as she shook her head in disappointment. "It seems that Karasu's not the only idiot around here." She looked at Luffy and Karasu laughing at each other for no apparent reason. Karasu then threw a piece of her food at Luffy and laughed even more.

Luffy stretched his mouth wide open and caught the food in it and ate it. "Sanji! This food is great!" The cook was too busy flirting with Leona that he didn't even yell at Luffy for eating Karasu's food. Robin was simply ignoring it all by reading.

Zoro on the other hand, knew nothing of this and was frequently getting closer to the ship, and then farther from it, in no particular order. Several times he'd almost ended up on the opposite end of the island, while other times, he'd almost gotten into sight of the ship.

Mikita looked up at the clouds moving and had a sudden memory of her mother. She looked down at her Dragon Tail, putting one hand on the handle. She looked up again and sighed as a gentle breeze flew by.

Finally a green haired figure was visible at the opposite end of the beach. "There's that damn ship. I thought I'd never find it..."

When Mikita lowered her level of sight from the sky, she saw Zoro approaching. "Finally. It looks like the lost idiot has found his way home." She was addressing Nami when she spoke, yet she focused a glare on Zoro.

Nami nodded sadly. "Yes, it looks like it." Zoro kept on walked towards the ship and noticed Mikita. He pretended not to notice though.

Mikita smirked and decided to taunt him. "Were you born retarded or something? It must have taken you years to figure out which way was up. Pssh, you probably think that's North."

Zoro looked genuinely surprised. "It's not?"

Nami sighed. "I thought we taught you that in Arubarna..."

Mikita laughed loudly. "Oh my god! You have got to be kidding me!"

Luffy was still laughing at Karasu like an idiot and Sanji was (obviously) still flirting with Leona. Leona giggled and said, "Thank you so much for inviting us Sanji. I suppose we shall leave now."

Sanji waved at Leona. "Bye Leona-swaaaan! Karasu-chwaaan! Mikita-samaaaaa! Come back soon!"

Zoro groaned aloud. "Do you have to invite them back?"

Sanji kicked at his head and he evaded. "Shut up Marimo."

"What was that?"

Nami sighed. "Here we go again..."

Leona contained her excitement until she got outside with Mikita. "Eeee! He said we could come back!" Karasu ran out in laughter and waved goodbye to Luffy.

Mikita smirked and looked at Zoro, rubbing her hands together sneakily. She now had the perfect opportunity to torture the swordsman until he snapped. Best of all, she'd get away with it.


	3. Chapter 3

It was like déjà vu all over again, that same dream that she had once before. The chase, the blood, the adventure. Mikita fled from her pursuers with that same sneaky grin on her face. Even the event of leaping out the window was replayed in the same manner as before, all right down to the loss of footing. As she hung there and looked upon the roof, there was the figure of that swordsman standing there with his three swords. _Zoro._ Mikita stared angrily at him as she prepared an attempt of getting up on the roof. That's when the dream progressed farther. A smirk came upon the swordsman's dark, shadowed face as he placed his foot over her hand. Mikita winced and lost her grip with that hand. She hung there and looked into his murderous eyes for a brief moment before he caused her other hand to slip.

She didn't fall far before she sat up and awakened with her eyes wide open. Her breathing rate was increased slightly as she looked around, noticing that it was just a dream. She sighed in aggravation and rushed to her feet.

Leona yawned and looked over at Mikita, who was now doing chin-ups on a thick tree branch. "Eleven… twelve… thirteen…"

"What are you doing? You're exercising early in the morning."

Mikita continued her chin-ups as she spoke. "I'm training… I'm not going to… lose to that fool!"

"And you think your physical body strength will measure up to what the Dragon Tail could produce?"

"Stay out of my business," Mikita commented rudely as she continued. "Twenty-four… twenty-five…"

Leona just sighed and went back to daydreaming about Sanji. She saw a picture of him in her mind as she smiled. _I can't wait until we get to see him again today._

On the Merry, Sanji was up and cooking breakfast. Nami had taken Luffy and Zoro out on a hunting trip to avoid spending as much money as possible. "Why are we doing this again?" Zoro yawned. He hadn't gotten much sleep last night. He had been dreaming about that odd girl from before. He shook his head clear of the thoughts.

"Because I don't want to be spending anymore money to buy food here!"

Luffy simply smiled. "Hey. Look up there. There's a lots of fruit!"

Zoro looked up. "Whatever." He took out his swords. "Tatsumaki!" He made a slicing tornado, which made the fruit drop down to the ground.

Mikita was still busy exercising by doing chin-ups. "Five hundred thirty seven… five hundred thirty eight…" She was straining a bit now since she was getting tired. She had been training non-stop for over an hour.

Leona watched her sister in amazement. "Are you just going to keep going like that?" Her stomach growled and she groaned. "I'm hungry. Can we go see Sanji? I mean can we go to the ship now so we can get some food?"

"Yay food!" Karasu exclaimed in agreement. "I'm gonna see if Luffy can beat me with a tongue-stretching contest!" She extended her long dragon tongue that had an end split in two. It was so long that she was able to wrap it around her body a few times.

Mikita focused an angered stare on Leona as she dropped down from the branch. "You just want to go see that lecher because he reminds you of Lutious."

Leona crossed her arms. "That is not true! I like him. He's nice," she pouted.

"'Nice' my ass! He's a pervert!" Mikita snapped.

"Is that all you can see about him Miki?" Leona yelled back as she stood up and faced her.

Mikita lowered her eyebrows a bit and got up in Leona's face. "It's all I see about him and all the other guys out there."

Leona didn't dare continue reasoning with Mikita as she turned away. "Humph!" She sat back down and fiddled with a stick. _She is going to fall in love. Why does she keep denying it? She knows my visions are never wrong. Maybe I shouldn't have told her about it. Then she would have figured it out for herself instead of being skeptical about it like this. _Leona sighed and threw the stick in the fire.

Mikita was now doing sit-ups with her feet supported underneath a large tree root as she counted, "Twenty-one… twenty-two…" As she exercised and strengthened herself even more than she already was, she thought about her dream and lost her counting place. _Why is that creepy swordsman in my dream? He was in my dream even before I knew him! Why in the hell am I thinking this anyway? It's not like he's the one that I'm supposedly going to fall in love with. That's a bunch of bull. How could I love something like that? Better yet, how could I ever be capable of loving at all?_

Karasu pointed at Mikita. "Miki's thinking about her boyfriend again!"

"I have no boyfriend! Stop invading my thoughts you little retard!" Mikita fussed as she growled at Karasu.

Karasu stood up and put her hand on her hip. "At least I'm not an ugly retard because I'm too cute." With the last three words of her sentence, she shook her butt tauntingly and said the words with emphasis. Leona smiled and contained her laughter as she placed her hand over her mouth.

Mikita shook her head and then she growled. "Ugh! You made me lose my place!" She then started doing her sit-ups quickly and furiously as if she were in a rush, not even bothering to keep count anymore.

Sanji was finished the breakfasts as Zoro, Nami and Luffy came back with fruits. Zoro was also carrying three dead deer and five trout over his shoulder. "Where do you want 'em?"

Sanji pointed at the kitchen giving Zoro an irritated silence at the swordsman's tone of voice. "Nami-swaaan! You don't need to carry those! I will! Here!" He passed Nami her breakfast and grabbed her fruits, carrying them off to the kitchen before she could say anything. "Ero-cook..."

"Six hundred seventy four… six hundred seventy five…" Mikita was now doing pushups and shaking tremendously with exhaustion.

Leona's stomach growled again and she whined, "Mikita, can we go now?"

"Butt out! I'm… not giving up… yet!"

Leona made an aggravated sound and stood up. "Well Karasu and I are going now. We're hungry."

"YAY!" Karasu exclaimed as she jumped up. Her stomach growled extremely loud and she was startled. "WHOA! Did you hear that? BEARS!" She ran behind Leona and looked around in paranoia.

Mikita got up and stretched, her stomach on the verge of growling as well. "Fine. Fine. Let's go torture… I mean eat." She took off in the direction of the ship and her sisters followed not far behind her.

Sanji had served Nami and Robin a five star breakfast, giving the men of the crew the table scraps. Zoro was sleeping up in the bird's nest while Usopp and Chopper were busy doing repairs on the ship. Sanji was looking through several of his recipes trying to decide which one to use for lunch.

"Sanji!" A cheerful voice called approaching the ship. It was Leona and she ran toward the ship while waving happily. Karasu ran next to her laughing for no reason and Mikita followed behind them simply walking with a face of disinterest.

Sanji ran outside of the kitchens like a rocket when he heard Leona's voice. "Leona-swaaan! Karasu-chwaaan! Mikita-samaaaaa! You came back!"

Luffy jumped up. "Really? Karasu's back? She's fun!" Sanji kept smiling at the women as he backkicked Luffy to the other end of the ship.

"Hi!" Leona said as she approached the ship. She stood there looking at Sanji in admiration, trying not to make a fool of herself.

Karasu ran over to Luffy. "LUFFY! I got a new contest!"

Mikita walked in casually and wasn't amused with the actions of the others, but she soon noticed the area where the swordsman was sleeping. She smirked with a cruel idea and kicked him out of the bird's nest. "Wake up you fucktard! I have to torture someone. Might as well be you."

Zoro glared at Mikita. "Yeah? Why don't you try it?"

Mikita smirked and revealed that she had snuck and taken his swords before kicking him and waking him up. She took them in her arms and smiled evilly through her fangs. "You want 'em? Come get 'em!" She then took off running.

Luffy smiled at Karasu. "That's cool! What is it?"

"Let's see whose tongue can stretch out the longest!" She extended her dragon tongue and began twirling it around her body and arms while laughing in the process.

Sanji was beaming at the new arrivals. "So, what can I make all of you for breakfast?" Luffy broke in. "I want—" Sanji yelled at him. "NOT YOU!"

Leona smiled at Sanji. "Whatever you have prepared for us is fine I'm sure." Mikita zoomed past Leona with Zoro's swords in hand. Leona sweatdropped. "Oh no…"

There was a second blur that shot past them that was actually tearing up the Merry's floorboards. "YOU GET BACK HERE YOU BITCH!"

Usopp yelled at the two of them. "Hey! Chopper and I just finished fixing the deck!"

Luffy was ignoring them and smiling and Karasu. "OK!" He stuck out his tongue and started using his rubber body to start stretching it. Sanji was off in the kitchens and he came out with an assortment of amazing looking foods on three plates. He handed one of the plates to Leona and then, without dropping the other ones, he calmly roundhouse kicked Zoro in the gut and passed Mikita hers. He then passed Karasu her meal. Zoro got up. "Bloody cook..."

Mikita smiled sneakily at Zoro, taunting him by waving the swords around. "You want 'em? You'll have to work for 'em." She then turned to Sanji. "I'll be back for my meal." She zoomed out of the ship in a whirlwind, tearing up even more floorboards.

Zoro came right after her, grabbing three deck brushes and putting one of them in his mouth. "You want to play it that way then?"

Of course Mikita wanted to play it the way she had chosen. She smirked back at Zoro and her smile seemed to be near a happy smile. It seemed so interesting to pick on this particular swordsman. One moment she was visible. The next she seemed to disappear because she dashed so quickly out of his sight as she sped up practically at the speed of light. All that she left behind was a bunch of sand that flew back toward Zoro's face.

Zoro let out a surprised yell, and shielded his eyes. "Damn it! Give me back my swords!" He kept following Mikita's tracks in the sand.

Sanji sighed. "What an impolite bastard, pursuing a poor woman like that relentlessly. He then looked over at the women in the crew. "Are you hungry Nami-swan?" He looked at Leona again. "What about you Leona-swan?" Luffy now had his tongue stretching across the entire deck.

Karasu saw Luffy's tongue and said, "Nuh-uh! I know you're not getting competitive with me!" She laughed and stretched her tongue out equal to his tongue's length. She then stretched it out to a tree outside the ship. "Ha! Beap bab!" Karasu yelled, trying to say 'beat that.'

Luffy grinned, and his tongue snapped back. "OK! Gomu Gomu no... Licking Piston!" He shot his tongue out like a bullet and it went five trees farther than Karasu's and wrapped around one. He grabbed onto the ship to prevent being snapped over to his tongue. Nami sighed. "How idiotic can you get...?"

Leona laughed at her sister and turned to Sanji. "Yes please."

Sanji smiled at Leona. "What would you like then Leona-swan?"

"Whatever suits you is fine for me," Leona answered politely. Sanji walked off to the kitchens, wondering what dish he'd cook for Leona.

When Zoro had reached Mikita, she was standing out among the trees in a blank section of the ground. His swords were nowhere in sight and that same sneaky grin was upon her face. "I was wondering when you'd get here."

Zoro glared at Mikita, still holding the deck brushes, now in a Santouryu pose with them. "What did you do with my swords?"

Mikita raised an eyebrow at Zoro. "Jee, it must get irritating talking with a brush in your mouth." She then rolled her eyes, still not desiring to answer his question.

Zoro was glaring at Mikita. "If you don't tell me what you've done with my swords, then I'll beat it out of you!"

"Oh. You're going to hit me with a brush. I'm so scared," Mikita stated sarcastically.

Zoro leered at her. "You should be. Santouryu: Takanami!" He sent two powerful gusts of wind at Mikita. Even using deck brushes, his Santouryu could still knock someone out.

Mikita leaped up into the trees and landed on a thick branch. His attack managed to break down a couple trees in its path as Mikita simply watched them go by. "All right then…" She swung down from the branch on a vine and flew towards him, her feet headed straight for his head. As she got closer, she extended the claws on her toes.

Meanwhile in the competition, Karasu smirked and kicked Luffy, sending him rocketing toward his tongue's end. "HA! HA!"

Luffy's arms stretched back and grabbed on. "Gome-Gome wo Wocket! (Gomu Gomu no Rocket)" His arms snapped him back with his tongue still around the tree.

"You sounded so funny!" Karasu laughed as she pointed at Luffy.

Leona smiled at Karasu and Luffy. _Looks like Karasu's finally found herself a challenging friend._

Luffy was starting to push himself farther from the tree his tongue was wrapped around. "Ha! Baet dat! (Beat that!)"

Karasu exclaimed, "OK!" and snapped her tongue over to a tree outside. She then started running across the ship as her tongue continued to stretch. She started slowing down and had to pull herself across the deck by using sturdy objects as an aid after a bit.

Luffy somehow had managed to pull himself to the other end of the Merry, with his tongue attached to the exact same tree. "Tis is betting rard... (This is getting hard...)"

Zoro, seeing Mikita going over his head, started to spin. "Tatsumaki!" He made a tornado of slicing winds around him to attack Mikita.

Mikita leaped from the vine and flipped forward, jumping right into the winds. This sliced her up to a great extent, but she winced and latched onto him, distinguishing his attack. The claws on her hands dug into his shoulders and her toe claws stuck into his stomach. She leered at him with blood going down the sides of her face and shoved away from him, ripping her claws out of him.

Zoro came whipping around with a slash with his mouth weapon and the deck brush in his left hand. "Where the hell did you put my swords? If you don't tell me you're going to sure as hell regret it!"

Mikita smirked and healed her wounds all at once, watching as the blood leaked from the holes in Zoro's shoulders and stomach. "Simmer down swordsman. Why get hostile over something that's right in front of you?"

Zoro raised an eyebrow. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"You've surely got the sailor's mouth, I'll tell you that much. What is that, your favorite word or something?"

Zoro jumped up to attack Mikita with rapid strikes. "Tell me where my swords are!"

Mikita flipped back and avoided the strikes. She landed and grinned. "You tell me and I'll tell you."

Zoro glared as he jumped up into a tree branch. "Those blades can't be replaced you bitch!" He jumped at Mikita. "Karazuma Gari!" He crossed his arms inwards to slash Mikita.

Mikita unsheathed her sword and sliced at the brushes, cutting them down the middle. "My sword may not be that strong yet, but at least it can do that. And just who are you calling a bitch you dumbfuck?"

Zoro charged at her. "I'm calling you a bitch! Isn't that obvious?" His foot connected with something. Something he knew all too well. He smirked as he sent a look down to see his foot had seemed to connect with thin air, though what he felt told differently. He threw the deck brushes at Mikita as he kicked up his three swords, and caught them, flinging the sheaths a side and placing the Wadou in his mouth. "Now then, where were we?"

Mikita swiped her hand and the swords became visible again. "Good show… for a direction-impaired retard. I'm surprised you didn't put the sword in your mouth backwards." She made no advances to attack, nor did she imply a desire to battle.

Zoro smirked and assumed his usual stance of crossing his arms. "Well, since I found my swords... though you didn't help. I can end this quickly."

Mikita growled and lengthened her claws. "You won't be so lucky this time." _Looks like I'm fighting after all. No matter. There is no way that this mortal fool is stronger than me._

Then something very odd happened. The tree next to Zoro had something long and pink wrapped around it. Mikita noticed it as she elevated an eyebrow. It was something that looked suspiciously like...

"A tongue?" Mikita asked in confusion. "Eww…" She slowly pulled the Dragon Tail about an inch or two out of the sheath, plotting on cutting up the strange pink thing. _It probably has something to do with this fool's plan._

Back on the Merry Luffy was cheering, "Baet tat! (Beat that!)" Sanji was serving Nami and Leona several new types of food. Leona accepted the food with a blushing smile.

Karasu would have taken the food, had she not been in a competition. She was now at the farthest end of the ship next to Luffy. "I wiw! (I will!)" She started to slip since her tongue was stretched at its farthest capacity. The hold that she had on the side of the ship failed and she was heading for the tip of her tongue. She instinctively grabbed hold of Luffy's arm and took him with her. Their tongues unraveled as they ended up getting tangled up in their own tongues around the trees and becoming stuck there. It was as if they were tied up with pink ropes on separate trees near each other. Mikita appeared surprised. "Karasu?" Zoro stared. "Luffy?"

Mikita and Zoro got somewhat pissed. "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING HERE?" they yelled simultaneously.

Sanji sighed on the Going Merry. "At least it'll be quieter around here for a while..."

Karasu unraveled her tongue after a bit of squirming and reeled her tongue in. "Ow, now my tongue is sore." She looked at Zoro and smiled with a big smile. "Hey! You're with the green-haired cutie! Hi green-haired cutie!" Karasu waved at Zoro.

Mikita sighed. "What are you doing Karasu?"

"I was just playing with Luffy. He can stretch his tongue out as far as I can!" She turned to Luffy with a look of excitement. "Hey! Let's see who can fly the fastest!" She transformed into a green dragon and flew up into the skies.

Luffy frowned. "I can't fly..." He shot out his arms and grabbed the tops of the trees. "WAIT FOR ME! Gomu Gomu no Rocket!" His arms worked like a giant slingshot, catapulting him forwards, a good deal faster than Karasu. Zoro sweatdropped. "Why am I surrounded by idiots...?"

"You're not the only one," Mikita sighed and watched Luffy follow after Karasu. She then realized that she had made a connection with Zoro, so she immediately got rid of that moment as she turned her back to him. "Hn. You're not only surrounded by them. You are one of them."

He shrugged. "Better than what you must be." He started walking off. _Which way was the ship again?_

Mikita looked back at him through the corner of her eye. _He doesn't want to kill me anymore. Plus he's going the wrong way. How hopeless can one person be?_ She smirked and took off in the right direction, following the scent of the food on the Merry.

Zoro started to wander around the forest, but somehow, in this case, his lack of direction ended up taking him all the way back to the beach where the Merry was docked at, arriving before Mikita did.

Something had sidetracked Mikita and she came out from among the trees with a slice of bread. She took a bite of it and chewed it up, swallowing it. "How generous of that fool to give me his only slice of bread." There was a gleam of evil in her eyes as she said it, proving that the bread had been acquired in a cruel manner. She licked her lips and swallowed again, but then she noticed that Zoro had arrived at the ship before her. "What the…? No way!" She stomped up to him and glared into his eyes. "How did a direction-impaired retard like you end up here before me? Why aren't you still lost?"

Zoro looked at her. "I knew exactly where I was going. The ship's at the south end of the map so I went backwards from where I was."

Mikita laughed and rolled her eyes. "Whatever." She then walked on past him and into the ship.

Zoro climbed up the rope ladder and onto the ship. "So, what's Ero-cook been doing then?" Nami sighed and pointed at Sanji who was flirting with Leona again. "Does he spend so much time with her because she actually notices him do you think?"

Leona laughed at something that Sanji said and looked away momentarily. Mikita walked over and looked for her meal. _That pervert must have put it away so that it wouldn't get cold. _

Sanji jumped to his feet when he saw Mikita. "Mikita-samaaa! You're back! I've kept your meal prepared for you! Let me just get it!"

"Chop. Chop. Pervert. I'm starving," Mikita replied rudely. Leona looked at Mikita with disappointment. "Mikita…"

Sanji simply looked at Mikita even more flirtingly. "I love it when women treat me like shit!" He handed Mikita her meal, which he'd added onto and made even better than before. Mikita growled and snatched her meal. "Jee thanks," she forced out with a deep angry voice.

Leona laughed at Sanji. "You're a strange one, and so funny. So how would you feel if a girl was actually sweet to you and liked you?"

Sanji had hearts in his eyes again. "I also love the girls who do that!"

"That's probably because he rarely gets that," Mikita spoke lowly. Leona shot a glare in Mikita's direction.

Zoro smirked in Mikita's direction. "Yeah, you just keep at that. It's fun to watch someone bug him when he won't fight back."

Mikita seemed to think that it was a great idea as well. _This is a pretty interesting opportunity. I can yell at that pervert all I want and he won't do shit. _She then turned to Sanji. "Hey pervert! Get me some lemonade! NOW!"

He jumped. "Right away Mikita-samaaaaa!" He ran off to make the lemonade from scratch. Leona leered at Mikita. "Miki, stop being so rude to San-San."

"San-San? You nicknamed him already? You are so hopeless." Mikita snarled. Sanji came back with her lemonade and handed it to her. "Kay, now go get me a steak, some mashed potatoes, an apple, cherry cheesecake, and ten pickles." Mikita was really laying it on him. She enjoyed the evil manipulation.

Surprisingly, this didn't take Sanji very long. He seemed almost like he was gone and then back with the items Mikita had requested. Zoro and Nami sighed. "It's like he runs on hormones..."

Mikita was a bit surprised. "Wow… That was quick. Ooh my cheesecake!" Mikita started eating her cheesecake rapidly.

Chopper was looking around. "I wonder where Luffy is..." At that moment, Karasu and Luffy busted into the ship and crashed into the walls. Karasu transformed back into her normal form and laughed. "That was so much fun! Now I'm hungry again…" A black blur shot by Karasu and came back holding platters of more delicious looking foods. "Wow! That was convenient," Karasu said as she dug into the food.

Leona looked outside and noticed that it was getting dark. She stood up and turned to Sanji. "Well we should probably go. We've been here all day. It's been great talking to you Sanji." She thought about it for a second and then gave him a quick hug. This made her turn lightly red and she started running off while yelling, "Thanks again for the food!"

Karasu followed not too far behind her, carrying her food with her. She muffled something through a full mouth to Luffy as she waved. Mikita just followed behind them with a shrug. Her eyes controlled themselves as she glanced at Zoro before leaving. Zoro sent a glance back at Mikita as they left, then looked determinably away. Sanji's heart eyes had tripled in size and he was quite emphatic about how he was waving goodbye.

Leona was practically skipping around merrily as they headed back to their place in the forest. Karasu was still stuffing her face as she walked along, and Mikita was looking strangely at both of them. "I am not related to either of you."

------------

_What will happen between Zoro and Mikita? Is it possible that Leona's vision was correct? What about Leona and Sanji? Will they become a couple as well… or even Luffy and Karasu? No I kinda doubt that last pairing. Karasu and Luffy are really strange friends. XD_


	4. Chapter 4

As a week went by, the three sisters visited the Merry each day. They had a terrific meal thanks to Sanji each time and they became healthier. They got more meat on their bones and their figures became even more irresistible to a certain pervert.

Leona became more attached to Sanji with each day. The same went for Karasu and Luffy. "Okay! Try this one five times fast: Rubber Baby Buggy Bumper!" Karasu and Luffy were competing with tongue tiers that were difficult to say. Luffy tried to repeat it but only got about three times right before screwing up. Sanji was in the kitchens cooking lunch. And Zoro... well isn't it obvious? He was sleeping, at least until Mikita poured icy cold water on him. "WAKE UP FUCKTARD!"

Zoro let out a surprised yell at Mikita as he jumped up. "WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT FOR?"

Mikita gave a charming smirk over her shoulder. "Oh please. You have to ask? It's practically a ritual."

Leona sighed and shook her head in disappointment with Mikita's actions. "Mikita…" She smacked her hand onto her forehead in frustration. _Those two are getting nowhere. We have to do something to get things started between those two… but what?_ Leona sat there and pondered.

Sanji walked out of the kitchens. "HEY! Marimo! Get out into that forest. We're running out of fruit, so I need you to get some. I'd get it myself but I couldn't possibly leave Leona-swan, Karasu-chwan, Nami-swan, Robin-chwan and Mikita-sama all alone on this ship!"

Zoro glared at him. Luffy looked at the pirate. "Yeah! Zoro hurry up, before I get hungry!" Zoro snapped at Luffy. "YOU'RE ALWAYS HUNGRY!" Luffy glared at him. "Whatever you say captain." He sighed and hopped over the side of the ship.

That's when it hit Leona, the perfect idea for the two of them to get some time together. She looked over at Mikita with a grin. "Mikita… Why don't you go with him?" She looked over at Nami and winked.

Nami shrugged. "I guess so. It'd be pointless to go and have him find food for us, if he got lost and ended up living off of all of it by the time he got back."

Mikita's jaw dropped. "No way! I'm not going anywhere with that retard!" She turned away and crossed her arms. Leona shrugged. "Okay then. You could always stay here with me and Sanji…" Mikita perked her ears up and reacted to this. "Uhh, on second thought it might do me some good to get out for a while… keep that idiot in line." Mikita hopped down after Zoro, catching up with him. "I hate her… and you." Zoro glared at her. "I hate that Ero-cook. And you." They started bickering as they proceeded into the forest.

Karasu shrugged and continued with her and Luffy's game. "Okay! How about this one: She Sells Sea Shells By The Sea Shore!" Leona smiled with her success as she watched them disappear through the trees. _Hopefully Mikita has enough direction sense to not get lost._ She then sweatdropped. _Who am I kidding? She sometimes can't decipher left from right. _

"Hmm… I think it's left from here," Mikita said as she pointed right.

Zoro pointed in the other direction. "No, the fruit trees were marked on the right side of the map, so we should head right."

Mikita darkened her eyes at him. "I have better direction sense than you do. I'm a demon!"

Zoro pointed to the right. "Yeah, but the map had the fruit grove Nami marked on the right side of the island."

"Screw the map!" She ripped it out of his hands and sliced it up. "Now we do it my way! Got it?"

Zoro shook his head then paused. "Wait, maybe if we go straight we'll end up where we both want to go! Maybe we're both right so if we go straight we'll end up where the fruit trees are!" The logic was so incomprehensible that only someone like Luffy would be capable of seeing any sense in it.

Oddly, Mikita understood him. "Hey that just might work!" She then noticed that she had agreed with him and got rid of that quickly. "Not that I'm agreeing with you or anything. It's… my senses." She took off straight ahead. Zoro shrugged. "I couldn't care more or less if you did." He started moving straight forwards. Little did they know that they were both wrong…

After a while of hopeless wandering, they still hadn't found any fruit trees. Mikita groaned. I should have relied on my senses. She stopped and sighed heavily into a growl, turning to Zoro with an aggravated stare. "Bright idea genius! Now we're lost and it's all your fault! I knew I shouldn't have listened to you!"

He glared at her. "You're the one who agreed with me. Besides, it can't be much further."

"I didn't agree with you…! My senses are just off today that's all." Mikita crossed her arms after covering up her story and walking on.

Zoro looked onwards. "Yeah, whatever." He squinted a bit. "Hey, doesn't that look a bit like fruit trees just ahead?"

Mikita noticed them. "Yeah it does! See I told you we were going the right way, but do you listen? Nooo…" She walked ahead of him.

Zoro snapped at her. "I'M THE ONE WHO SUGGESTED THIS PATH!" He walked after her growling.

"Get over it," Mikita replied impolitely as she kept going.

Zoro looked around. There were quite a number of fruits around them. "I told you we'd find them."

"Yeah that's what I told you a million times, but you never listen to me." Mikita loved making no sense and irritating the swordsman.

Zoro walked into a grove of the fruits. "Weird. I've never seen these fruits before. Oh well." He drew his three swords. "Tatsumaki!" He used the technique to slice down the fruits and drop them into the basket he carried on his back.

Mikita assisted by using the Dragon Tail in its whip state to yank down branches. "Now if we can just find our way out of this forest…" She saw a rose nearby and couldn't resist but to smell it. "Odd. This rose has no smell to it." She shrugged and continued gathering fruits. Zoro shrugged at her. "A rose that has no smell? So what?" He kept on cutting down fruits until the basket was full.

"Well they're supposed to smell like something dipshit!" Mikita snarled through her teeth and walked on. "Fine. We got the damned fruits, now let's get out of here."

Zoro looked around. "So... how do we get back to the ship?"

Mikita sighed. "I'll just use my sense of smell." She sniffed the air and paused for a bit, soon taking in a deeper breath through her nose. Mikita bit her lower lip, but didn't let Zoro see. "Uhh… It's this way." She pointed to a direction and walked toward it.

Zoro followed Mikita along. "Even I can tell that we're not going the right way. I mean all we're seeing is trees. I don't remember this group of trees on our way here."

Mikita snapped her head back at him. "Shut up! I know where I'm going!" She walked ahead furiously.

After a while longer of hopeless wandering, the skies started turning darker. Mikita yawned and kept walking, soon perking up her ears at the sight of something familiar. "Hey I recognize this spot!"

Zoro looked around. "Why is that?"

Mikita's positive attitude went to a negative stare. "Oh… that's because we were here a couple hours ago… Damn." They had traveled in a circle and the sun was near setting. Mikita growled and shut her eyes, clenching her fists. She extended her claws and chopped up a tree in frustration. "Great. Looks like we're stuck here for the night." She threw the wood into a pile and used her firepowers to light up a fire.

Back on the Going Merry, Chopper kept on staring out at the forest. "I wonder where Zoro is..." Usopp was also staring out. "I hope he's ok..." Sanji scoffed. "Just as long as he hasn't done anything to poor Mikita-sama. Out there alone with that idiot."

Mikita sat near the fire, glaring at it for no reason. She addressed Zoro as she spoke. "This is so unfair. You're the last person I want to be stuck out here with."

Zoro glared back. "Oh, so you think I enjoy being stuck out here with a psychotic bitch like you?"

Mikita kept a cold stare fixed on Zoro, making sure she remained a good distance from him. "Well you shouldn't have gotten us lost." She looked away, trying to avoid the fact that she was the reason they were lost.

Zoro crossed his arms in irritation. "You're the one who was guiding us back."

"So my nose is a little off today. Big deal," Mikita stated. _Oh man. It must have had something to do with that rose that I smelled earlier. Ever since then, I haven't been able to smell anything. Now I'm stuck out here with that guy._ She looked over at him and her actions were suddenly cautious as she kept an eye on him. Her stomach growled and she looked down at it sadly, but she soon looked at Zoro again as if she were watching his every move. She took an apple from the sack of fruits and held it in her hand. _Might as well eat some of this now._ She bit into it and kept watch on the swordsman.

Zoro watched her bite into an apple dully. So what if she ate some of the fruit, he could always grab some more.

As she swallowed a bite of the apple, she began to feel something strange inside as she looked at Zoro. She dropped her apple and her jaw as she looked at him in a different manner.

Zoro saw Mikita's jaw drop and then instinctively looked behind him. "What? Is there something here?"

Mikita's dazed jaw drop turned to a slight smile. "No it's not that. It's just… I've never noticed how cute you are." She fiddled with her fingers and blushed a little. She wasn't acting like her usual self.

Zoro's eyes narrowed. "Uh huh... let me guess, about as cute as a crocodile with rabies or something like that?"

Mikita giggled, "No silly. Why would I say that?" She stood up and started walking over to him, swaying her hips. Upon her face was a charming, love-struck smile.

Zoro was waiting for Mikita to drop the bomb and unleash some insult or another. Mikita approached him and sat down in front of him. "In fact, you want to know what I really think of you?" She blinked her eyes slowly and sweetly, slipping her hand over to his and gently taking hold of it. "You're very charming. Such a strong, masculine, handsome man." She had deepened her voice passionately as she spoke.

Zoro simply stared. He knew at that exact moment he'd never understand women. Here this girl was frequently snapping at him and insulting him, and suddenly she was acting like... this.

Mikita smiled sweetly and moved her face closer to his. "You know, being out here alone with you is actually quite romantic." She stroked his hand with her fingers gently.

Zoro blinked. "Do you have a split personality or something?"

Mikita giggled. "You are so funny Zorrie-Kins." She moved closer to him, almost to the point of leaning against him.

A bead of sweat went down Zoro's forehead. "What's wrong with you... Mikita wasn't it?"

This surprised Mikita as she grinned. "You know my name! You are so handsome Zorrie-Kins." She looked up at the sky and noticed that the sun was setting. There were hues of pink, purple, and blue all mixed together and Mikita looked at it with awe. "Look at that sunset. Isn't it gorgeous?"

Somehow, Zoro got the impression it wasn't best to answer that question, and just leave silence as his answer.

"Oh how cute. You're speechless." What Mikita did next would really mess with his emotions. She leaned against him with her back against his chest, pulling his arms around to where his hands rested against her stomach. Her hands rested on his and she smiled up at the sky. "I am so glad that I'm here with you right now Zorrie-Kins."

Zoro actually went red with embarrassment. _Thank god nobody can see me right now, like that idiot back on the ship_. Back on the Going Merry Sanji sneezed.

Mikita snuggled closer to him. "You're so warm."

A large sweatdrop went down the back of Zoro's head. "Aren't you the one with a furry tail?"

Mikita didn't hear him, for she had fallen asleep against him. Her finger twitched against his hand.

Zoro looked around nervously. _Ok... I could stay here with all the food and a warm fire... or I could run for the Merry and leave this insane girl here..._ It wasn't long before he decided to try option #2. He gradually tried to push Mikita off of him. She reacted subconsciously by taking hold of his hands. Softly she said, "Don't leave me… please…" He sweatdropped. "Yeah, yeah, I won't..."

Mikita smiled softly in her sleep and made a low purring sound as she slept. She had him trapped in that very spot, right where she wanted him. Zoro started to get up again, being careful not to move Mikita much. However, Mikita was a light sleeper and this caused her to wake up. She stretched and opened her eyes.

Zoro blinked and paused. "Look! Over there!" He pointed at something behind Mikita and when she turned to look he started to slowly back away. "Just keep looking! There's something there!"

Mikita looked and didn't see anything, which confused her. "All I see is a tree…" She turned to see that Zoro wasn't there and she blinked. "Zorrie-Kins?"

Zoro was behind a tree farther up and he was slowly edging his way along, trying to find the Merry before Mikita found him.

Before he got very far, Mikita popped up in front of him merrily. "Hi Zorrie-Kins! You just disappeared and I couldn't find you, but here you are! You are so sneaky." She shoved him playfully and took him by the arm. "Come on. Let's go back and snuggle by the fire." Zoro sweatdropped as Mikita dragged him back. _This is not my day..._

When they got back by the campfire, Mikita sat next to him and leaned on his shoulder, holding onto his hand with her fingers laced between his. "I hope we never separate from each other. Don't you Zorrie-Kins?" Mikita looked up into his eyes with her glowing gaze.

Zoro sweatdropped. "It doesn't seem like that's ever going to happen..."

"I'm glad," Mikita said as she moved to where she was sitting in front of him. She had that look in her eyes as if she wanted to talk about something serious. "Zorrie-Kins… I want to be with you forever. I hope you feel the same way." Her stare was so innocent instead of evil like it usually was. Now more sweatdrops were going down the sides of Zoro's head, and it had absolutely nothing to do with the heat. Mikita tilted her head curiously. "What's the matter? Don't you love me?" She gave him the puppy eyes. Zoro stared. "Umm... the answer to that should be self explaining..."

"So you _do_ love me?" Mikita asked with a hopeful appearance. Zoro sweatdropped. This wasn't turning out well. He didn't want to lie to the strange wolf girl, but on the other hand he wasn't sure how she'd react if he said otherwise. He might not like the result. "Ummm... yes?" Mikita's eyes lit up with joy. "You do? Really? Oh Zorrie-Kins…" That's when she took her strange behavior to the next level: She leaned in and joined their lips in a kiss. Zoro's eyes widened and his arms flailed a bit slightly.

The kiss didn't last long before Zoro pulled away. The pirate's eyes were wide with shock, and so were Mikita's. She looked at him fearfully and gulped. It was as if something inside of her snapped her back to reality. Her eyes narrowed with fright and she hurried away from him and to the opposite side of the fire, where she sat there and watched him closely. She would look at him and then look away again, as if she didn't believe what she had done.

Zoro's eyes narrowed. "You've finally snapped back I hope."

"Don't talk to me." Mikita rushed the words out and still had that look of fear upon her face. _What happened to me? Why did I do that? Why did I feel that way?_ She hugged onto her knees and sat there focusing her sight on nothing in particular.

Zoro smirked. "I'll take that as a yes." He closed his eyes then opened them again. "So then... WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING?"

Mikita shot a glare at him. "I said don't talk to me! You stay on your side of the fire and I'll stay on mine!" She turned her head to glare at some inanimate object. "None of that happened. Got it?"

Zoro glared back. "Wouldn't have it any other way. Goodnight." He said the last word with some contempt and turned away from her, lying down on his side.

Mikita grunted and leaned against a tree, keeping her glaring eye on him secretly. _I'm not sleeping tonight. I don't know what happened, nor do I care. All I know is that I'm not letting my guard down. Not around him. _

Meanwhile on the Merry, Leona waited for Mikita and Zoro to return as she looked out at the trees from the railing. "Where are they? I hope they didn't get lost. Or worse, I hope they didn't get into some sort of trouble." She looked at Sanji with a worried expression. Sanji glared off into the forest again. "Just as long as Mikita-sama is safe. I don't really care what happens to the idiot."

Karasu was still saying the tongue tiers in her sleep as she slept on the ship's floor, twitching her back leg. "Peter piper picked a peck of… pickled peppers…" Luffy's mouth was drooling, signifying his dreams about food. It seemed like Sanji, Robin and Leona were the only one's on the Merry still awake. Leona looked out at the dark forest. _Please be okay… _

Once the sun started to rise early in the morning, the fire had begun to die down. Birds flew around above the trees and chirped their melodies. There was a shifting sound as Zoro, sadly, rolled onto the embers of the dying fire. His eyes snapped open and he gritted his teeth, trying not to yell. He calmly rolled back the other way.

Mikita hadn't kept her plan of remaining awake, as she appeared to be asleep leaned against the tree, her foot twitching a bit. Zoro glared at Mikita, still not having forgiven her for what happened the previous night. The young wolf shifted a bit in her sleep, making a tiny sound through her vocals. She didn't seem evil when she slept. She actually looked… peaceful. Zoro suddenly seemed to notice this fact, as he stared at her a bit. Then he shook his head vigorously and started trying to purge the memories of the previous night.

Mikita made a few more low sounds as she moved around a bit, opening her eyes as slits and acknowledging the awful taste in her mouth. Once her eyes were opened almost completely, she yawned and stretched, raising her arms above her head. She suddenly remembered what had happened between her and Zoro and she paused. "Ugh! That was the worst dream ever." She looked over at Zoro and noticed that she wasn't where she thought she was. Her eyes formed an angry stare as she focused her eyesight on him. "What are you looking at fucktard?" He glared. "Air."

"You can't see air you dumbass retard." Mikita stood up and looked around, sniffing the air. "I can smell again! …I mean I can smell the food on the Merry again… yeah. Well don't just sit there. We have to get those fruits back to that perverted cook." Mikita turned around rudely and started walking off. Zoro looked at the fruits. "Yeah, we'd better." He shouldered his basket and started following her.

Leona was still out by the railing, watching for Mikita and Zoro to return. Her eyes lit up and a smile came across her face as she noticed something. "Mikita!" Sanji looked over the deck. "Mikita-samaaaaaa! You're safe!" Zoro came behind her holding the basket of fruits.

"Yeah whatever," Mikita stated rudely as she jumped up on the ship. Leona ran and locked her sister in an embrace. Mikita didn't return the hug, but growled instead. "What are you doing?"

"I was so worried about you! I'm glad you're all right."

Karasu saw that Mikita was back and that Leona was hugging her, so she joined in on the hug. Mikita looked at her strangely and sighed, breaking away from her clingy sisters. "Would you pansies get off of me? I'm fine!"

"SICK!" Karasu yelled in a high-pitched tone for no particular reason as she walked off. "Luffy! Want to challenge me in a stretching competition?" She did a front flip and landed in the splits. It probably wasn't the best idea to challenge a rubbery guy to a stretching competition…

Luffy nodded. "OK!" He drew back his fist. "Gomu Gomu no Stamp!" He extended his leg right across the deck, accidentally hitting the ships railing. "Beat that!"

"OKIES!" Karasu exclaimed as she bent her body backwards like a contortionist and ended up with her head between her legs.

Luffy grinned. "Here I go!" He then smashed his legs into the ship's floor and started to twist his body around and around and around until he was like a wound up swing.

Sanji grinned. "Mikita-sama! You got all this fruit for me to cook! Thank you so much!" He was determinably ignoring the fact it had been Zoro who'd been ordered to actually do anything.

"You certainly took awhile Mr. Swordsman." Robin looked up from her book as Zoro set his basket down. "Shut up. You have no idea what that bitch put me through."

Mikita glared at the swordsman. "It was all your fault fucktard." Zoro started yelling at Mikita. "HOW WAS IT MY FAULT? YOU'RE THE BAKA THAT WENT INSANE!"

Usopp simply stared. "What happened between those two?" Leona blinked. "I don't know…" _I guess my plan didn't work after all._ She sighed in disappointment.

Karasu saw the sack of food and ran to it. "Banana!" She took a banana out of the sack and started peeling it as she licked her lips. Once she took a bite of it, she smiled. "Mmmm… this is so yummy." Right after she said that, she looked around in confusion. "Did I say that? Why do I sound like a sissy girl?"

Mikita stopped yelling at Zoro to look back at Karasu. "That's because you are a girl. Duh! What's wrong with you?"

"What's wrong with you?" Karasu snapped back. "I'm no girl! I'm a boy!"

That's when Leona realized what was going on. She snapped her head quickly to Sanji, who was carrying the basket of fruits. "Wait Sanji! Nobody eat those fruits!"

Sanji looked over at Leona. "Why is that Leona-swan?" Luffy hadn't listened and his arm stretched and grabbed a plum out of the basket. As Luffy swallowed the plum whole a large purple cloud of smoke formed and a dog stood in Luffy's place. It seemed extremely confused. This was about all it took for the Strawhat crew to fall over laughing their heads off. Even Robin was giving a quiet chuckle.

Karasu was also laughing. "I hate my girly laugh! I am supposed to sound manly!"

Mikita started to snicker a little, but then she stopped in shock. "Wait… you mean the fruits are…"

"They're magic. Yes," Leona finished for Mikita. "The fruits must have come from the Mystical Forest. Those fruits cause certain effects, but once the main spell is broken, the effects of it still remain inside and grow stronger, making them the actual feelings and ways of that person." This brought a surprised, fearful look to Mikita's face as she looked over at Zoro, her jaw dropped.

Luffy tried to talk but only barked. Sanji grinned evilly. "You know, in some places in the world I hear dogs make good meals..." Chopper walked next to Luffy as the dog barked, and translated. "Chopper, what happened? You've been turned into a dog Luffy-san!"

Karasu looked at Nami. "Ooh she's cute."

Leona ran over to Karasu. "Karasu. No. You are not a guy!"

"Yes I am!"

"No! It's a spell!"

"Liar! I am a man!"

Mikita went over and slapped Karasu. "No you are not! You are a girl! G-I-R-L! Just look at yourself!" Karasu looked down at her chest and noticed the bulge. "So what if I was born in the wrong body? I know that I'll find someone to love me for who I am!"

Leona sighed and covered her face with her hand. "Oh boy…"

"Yes I am. Thank you. Now…" Karasu turned to Nami with a smile. Karasu was greeted by a wooden pole crashing into her head, held by the red head. "I can barely stand Sanji doing that, what makes you think I'm going to let a woman do it?"

Luffy was now yipping excitedly and Chopper was still translating. "Hey, Leona? How can I change back? Hey! I want to know how to change Luffy back too!"

"All you have to do to reverse the effects is to eat a fruit of the same type that you had eaten before," Leona replied as she held out a banana to Karasu. "Here sis. Eat this and you'll be normal again."

"I am not a girl! Stop calling me sis and call me bro!" She turned down the banana and looked at Nami again. "Playing hard-to-get are we?" Leona sighed in aggravation. Nami grabbed the banana and shoved it down Karasu's throat. Luffy ran over and started looking for another plum in the basket. Mikita did the same as Luffy, looking for another apple.

"What are you looking for Mikita?" Leona asked curiously.

"Tell me there's another apple in here," Mikita said, desperately searching for an apple.

"Afraid not Miki. Why?" Leona asked her, watching her closely. Mikita growled and put her hands on her head.

Karasu blinked and looked at Nami. "Tell me I was just dreaming." Nami sweatdropped. "Don't I wish...?" She then pointed at Luffy. "Care to help him?" Zoro was now helping Mikita look for an apple, vainly.

Mikita growled with her frustration. _There's no way I'm letting those feelings take over_. She turned and looked out at the trees. Narrowing her eyes, she took off toward the forest once again. Leona stood up. "Miki!"

Zoro took off after her. As he ran alongside her he made a comment. "Don't think this means anything, I'm just as desperate as you are to fully erase those feelings you had from last night." Mikita glared at him. "They weren't my feelings. It was that damned spell and I'm putting an end to it." Zoro smirked. "Heh. Thank god for that."

Luffy had found a plum at the bottom of the basket but couldn't reach it. For some reason Sanji had a problem with him stretching his neck to try and reach it. Leona sighed and reached it for Luffy. "Here." Luffy barked excitedly, as he waited for Leona to put it at a level he could get it. Leona held the plum out to Luffy so that he could take it from her hand. Luffy ate it out of her hand and transformed back. "Ah! That plum was good! I wonder if there's any more!" A kick connected with his head, knocking him out. "Don't waste Leona-swan's kindness to an idiot like you, Luffy." Leona looked out sadly among the trees that Mikita and Zoro had taken off to. _I guess my vision was wrong after all._


	5. Chapter 5

Mikita ran quickly through the forest searching for the Mystical Forest. She was determined to reverse the spell that the apple had given her. She was already beginning to feel the effects of it to an extent. _I will find that forest again. There's no way that I'm going to fall for that man… even if he is kind of cute. Eww, what am I thinking? I just need to stop thinking._ Mikita shook away her thoughts and kept running. Zoro kept running alongside her. "Where the hell is that forest?"

"How the hell should I know?" Mikita griped. "Just shut up and I'll find it." She sped up in a whirlwind, leaving him behind a great distance. Zoro glared and picked up speed. "Oh no you don't!" Mikita was already far ahead and out of his sight in no time.

Trees rushed by her as she continued her search frantically, sniffing the air as she zoomed by. She finally stopped and looked around, coming to an alteration of smells. "Which way is it?" She picked up a different smell and her eyes widened. She turned to see the figure of a familiar man, and not too long before she had gotten a glimpse of him, a sudden unknown force blew her back against a tree. She was knocked breathless and her yelp echoed through the forest.

Zoro heard the yelp. "Oh damn it, she'd better not have hurt herself or done something stupid or I'm going to have Ero-cook hounding me for it." He picked up the pace and came upon Mikita. "What the hell is wrong with you?" Mikita coughed a little and stumbled to her feet.

"It's been far too long baby," the new voice said as the demon approached a bit closer. His bright blue eyes matched Mikita's hue and his disposition had evil written all over it. Mikita focused a vengeful glare on him, ignoring the fact that Zoro had arrived next to her. Zoro drew the Yubashiri. "Who the hell are you?"

"I should be asking you that," the demon replied to Zoro.

"Don't interfere," Mikita stated as she walked closer to the demon, "What do you want?" The demon walked closer to her as well. "Can't a father visit his lovely daughter once in a while?" There was a hint of sarcasm in his voice as he spoke and Mikita didn't appreciate this as she growled. Zoro looked at Mikita but didn't put away his katana, holding it at the ready.

The demon looked at Zoro and asked, "So what are you doing hanging around with humans?" Mikita unsheathed her Dragon Tail and smirked. "It's not good to change the subject. You might lose focus." That being said, she extended her weapon and prepared to fight.

The demon just returned the sneaky smile. "You don't actually intend to fight your dear ol' dad do you?" He sent a blast of energy at her that she blocked with her sword. She ran at him and aimed her sword's point at him, but he blocked by morphing his arm into a sword-like weapon. "Too bad your attempts are in vain," he said to her as he winked. This agitated her even more and she lowered her eyebrows.

She took him by surprise as her sword suddenly transformed to its whip state and wrapped around his weapon-like arm, all in the blink of an eye. This surprised him and she smirked, pulling on the weapon's handle and slinging him through the air.

Of course he didn't allow himself to be taken down so easily. Oddly, he seemed to just vanish in midair. "What!" Mikita exclaimed in shock. Not long after that, he popped up behind her and slashed at her with his claws. Mikita turned and tried to block this attack, but she hadn't sensed him behind her in time and he injured her arm. Her blood splattered on the forest ground and she flinched.

The demon smiled evilly. "You seemed to have learned a few tricks and gotten physically stronger I see. Still you are no match for me. I will consume all of your power… and then take care of our unfinished business. You'll learn your place just as your mother did."

Mikita's angry stare grew even more vengeful as he told her that. As he charged at her, she bore her fangs and slashed at him with the Dragon Tail. Surprisingly, the Dragon Tail emitted a strange energy and it flew at him with immense speed.

"What!" he exclaimed as it hit him and blew him back. He had blocked with his armored arm, but still he was pretty badly affected by it. Mikita looked at her weapon with a surprised expression and the demon rose to his feet. "All right. I see how it is." He looked over at Zoro and then back at Mikita. "This is far from over sweetheart." He vanished from their sight and Mikita watched him go with a neutral gaze. She looked down at her weapon curiously. "What was that? It's never done that before…" She gave it a quick jerk and it went back to its sword state so she could sheathe it. She kept her hand on the handle for a bit and stared at it before smiling with victory. "Yes! Take that you perverted bastard!" She made a victorious hand motion with both arms and her tail wagged happily. Zoro sweatdropped. "Who the hell was that?"

Mikita gave him a flat stare. "Did you not listen to the conversation at all?" She looked at her arm and realized that her wounds were still bleeding. "Oh…" She placed her other hand over it and it healed. "At least I showed his sorry ass who was boss! If you hadn't have been here… Well if you hadn't have been here…" It was as if more than one thought went through her mind at that moment and she shook her head as she walked on. "Never mind. Let's keep walking. We'll find that forest soon enough." Zoro nodded. "Whatever. So which way do you think it is?"

"I don't know! We'll find it when we find it! Get off my case!" Mikita snapped at him, although there was no need in it.

Meanwhile on the Merry, Leona sat on the edge of the ship looking out at the forest. _I wonder when Mikita's coming back… and if she was even able to find the Mystical Forest again?_ She sighed and rested her chin on her hands, her elbows propped up on her legs.

Sanji walked up behind her. "What's wrong Leona-swan?"

Leona looked up at him. "Oh… Sanji. I'm just worried about Mikita. That's all." Sanji nodded. "I am too. Poor Mikita-sama... being stuck out there in the forest all alone..."

Luffy grinned at Karasu. "What should our next challenge be?" Karasu jumped up. "I know! Who can swallow a watermelon whole the fastest!"

Sanji sighed. "And then there are us on the ship..."

Leona smiled. "Yeah. It's just that… Well, Mikita's not out there alone. Zoro's with her. Maybe it just wasn't meant to be, but still… My visions are never wrong. I don't understand."

Sanji had chibi tears in his eyes. "Poor Mikita-sama... alone out there with that idiot..."

As Zoro ran he sneezed, and then kept running.

Luffy grinned. "OK! Sanji! Get us some watermelons!"

"GET THEM YOURSELF!" He suddenly realized that Karasu was with Luffy. "Unless you want a watermelon Karasu-chwan!"

"Yes please!"

Sanji ran off to the kitchens to get Karasu a watermelon and gave one to Luffy as well. "Here you are Karasu-chwaaaaan. Oh, and here's one for you captain." He handed them each their watermelon and walked back to Leona.

"Yay," Karasu yelled happily as she took her watermelon. "Okay let's go!" She transformed into her dragon form and unhinged her jaws. The Merry started to turn over and was ready to capsize when Karasu turned into her dragonish form. Usopp came running out of the cabin. "OI! Don't turn the ship over!"

"Oops. Sorry! Let's go outside and finish our competition," Karasu said as she flew off the ship, carrying her watermelon. Luffy stretched his arms to grab a tree and grabbed his watermelon then snapped over onto the beach. "Let's go!"

Leona smiled at Karasu and turned back around to look toward the forest. _We're all so happy. I just wish Mikita was. Well it's not like I'm settled with Sanji or something. He sure does remind me of Lutious… I wish Lutious was here_. She put her hand on her forehead. _Oh great. Now I'm not happy_.

Sanji walked over to Leona. "Leona-swan? What's wrong?" Leona looked up at him. "Oh, it's nothing. Really. I'm fine San-San." She put on a happy face to the best of her ability. Sanji sighed as he blew some smoke and then put his cigarette back in his mouth. "That's not true Leona-swan. Can't you tell me what's wrong?"

"It's a long story," Leona said with sadness in her eyes. Sanji smirked a bit and raised his cigarette. "I just got this one lit, I've got a while." Leona smiled at him a little, knowing that she could tell him what was on her mind.

While Leona explained her story to Sanji, Mikita and Zoro were still wandering helplessly through the forests trying to find the right place. "Ugh! I hate this!" Mikita yelled in frustration. "I can't find my way back there! I found it last time by accident. Doesn't look like I'm so lucky this time." Zoro paused. "Hmm... maybe we could find it the same way we did last time..." Mikita elevated an eyebrow at him. "By going straight ahead? We've been doing that for hours already! The Mystical Forest fruits smell just the same as normal fruits, so I can't sniff them out. It's not fair! What if I get stuck this way and… NO! I will not let that happen. I can't end up with… you." She eyed him up and down quickly and turned away, walking on to wherever they were going.

Zoro shrugged. "I think it's straight, what direction do you think it's in?"

"Why should it matter to you what I think?"

"Maybe we can find it like we did yesterday. Maybe if you figure out which direction you think it's at and we go to the direction between them we'll find it."

"Or maybe if you would just shut your damn mouth…" Mikita started.

"Fine." He paused. "So. How do we get back to the ship now?" This really agitated Mikita as she turned around to face him angrily. "How the hell should I know? Jeez! Are you just trying to irritate me or something?"

Zoro growled. "No! I just want you to get rid of the effects of that apple because I don't want you going insane on me again!"

"Hn, you probably enjoyed it." She crossed her arms and turned away from him. Zoro scoffed. "Yeah right. That kind of stuff's a waste of time. I've spent enough time with Ero-cook to learn that."

"Yeah, I'm sure," Mikita replied sarcastically as she looked back at him through the corner of her eye. "I've spent enough time with Leona to find that you're all the same." Zoro smirked. "Same to you. Psychotic bitch." Mikita glared at him, but then she smirked and turned to him. "If I'm such a psychotic bitch, then why don't you just kill me here and now?"

"Because unlike you, your sisters are alright, and they'd get pretty pissed if you died."

"What should that matter to you? As long as my death satisfies you, isn't that all that matters?" He smirked. "Killing you would have no meaning. You're currently not a threat to me, and I wouldn't get any stronger by fighting someone like you."

Mikita's left ear went back and then straight again, as a confused cat. "I'm not a threat to you? Hmm…" She smirked. "Then what am I to you currently?"

Zoro glared. "A nuisance." Mikita simply grinned. "Good." As she looked at him so closely, she felt one of those strange feelings within her again and she shook it off. She turned away and growled lowly. "We have to find that forest." She looked around her in all directions, hoping that he didn't notice the way she was just looking at him. _Not my feelings. Not my feelings._ She reassured herself in her mind. Actually, Zoro did notice but simply passed them off as some accusatory glare.

As Mikita looked around, she noticed her vision going fuzzy. She squinted to try and see more clearly, but it wasn't working very well. "That's odd…" Zoro kept on looking around. "What is?" Mikita shook her head and tried to clear herself of the feelings. "It's nothing. Let's keep moving." _I hope it's not some other strange effects of that apple. _She looked at her arm. _Even my arm is hurting where Tsuyoku wounded me. Eh it's probably nothing. _She simply walked on. Zoro continued to walk on beside her, glancing around for any sign of the trees.

After a little longer of traveling hopelessly, Mikita began to stagger as she walked, but she hadn't really noticed it. She was too occupied with blinking her eyes clear of the worsened blurriness. _What's going on? I know there aren't that many trees…_ She was seeing double and she couldn't get her eyesight to function properly.

Zoro started to see her stagger. "Hey! What are you doing? You can't pass out now! If you do, how am I supposed to get back to the ship?" Mikita leered at him. "Stop caring only for yourself you worthless…" She didn't get to finish her sentence as she began to heave and vomit.

He glared. "Would you actually want me to care about you over myself?" He didn't react much more than an involuntary twitch and a brief look of concern came over his face as she started vomiting, but was soon gone.

Mikita emptied as many contents that would come up. The vomit was greenish in color, like a type of poison. She fell to her hands and knees, determined not to fall unconscious. She addressed Zoro as she said, "I could care less… what you do… Just shut up…"

Zoro walked over to her. "Good. Then you won't mind if I do this." He lifted up Mikita and slung her over his shoulder. "Just point me in the direction of the ship. You'll slow me down if you walk and vomit the entire way."

Mikita leered and held back a heave. "You insensitive fucktard… put me down… I should not be moving because…" She then threw up on his back and said, "It'll only make it worse." She coughed and spit out what was remaining in her mouth. She did not need to be in motion, but to be sitting or lying still to pass away the effects of the poison.

Zoro glared. "Shut up, I'm not doing this for my own enjoyment. You need a doctor and there's a good one on our ship. Albeit an odd one, but he'll be able to figure out what's wrong with you!" Unconsciously he slipped Mikita into a hold where she wouldn't be bumped and jostled as much as he ran.

Mikita had a pitiful look on her face. She felt horrible, and that's when she acted beyond her normal ways again, but only differently this time. "Put me down… please…" She even looked as if she were about to cry. She was practically pleading for him to set her down. Zoro heard the tone in her voice and sighed. "Whatever." He stopped and set her down up against a tree.

Mikita coughed and heaved even more, but nothing else would come up. Her eyes appeared so weak, as if she could hardly keep them open. She winced with pain of some sort as she made a sound of discomfort. She made eye contact with the swordsman. "Just… give me a minute to settle my stomach. Then you may proceed… to take me there… if you so desire."

He nodded. "We can't find the fruit to reverse this if you don't help out, and you can't help in this condition."

Mikita struggled to sit up away from the tree. "We'll find it… one way or another…" As she tried to stand up, she stumbled and instinctively grabbed onto Zoro for support. "I will not let… I can't…" She couldn't even form a complete sentence now. Zoro sighed. "Rested up enough yet?"

Mikita just fell back down. "Apparently not…" She propped herself up against the tree and tried to take in deep breaths. She looked at Zoro with a semi-serious expression. "What if we never find that forest… and the apple's effects consume me… You'd hate me wouldn't you? Heh, more than you already do…"

He sweatdropped. "Don't think like that. I don't want you hanging off me the rest of my life. I'd be tempted to commit suicide if that happened. And that's something I can't do."

Mikita took in a deep breath. What she said next was hard for her to force out, but she made herself say the words, "I'm… I'm sorry…" Her eyelids flickered slowly as she tried to remain conscious. Zoro looked at her. "What for? For being a baka?"

"No," Mikita started, "for not being able to stop it. You see… the effects are already getting to me." She looked down sadly and her eyes were shaking with sadness. "I don't have a reason to live… and I can't make both of our lives hell…" She looked up at him and her eyes narrowed pitifully. "If you want to kill me right now before it's too late… I don't mind."

Zoro sighed. "Like I said, I'm not gonna kill you, you baka." He looked around. "So are we going to start moving or spend the night here?"

Mikita just looked at him, sighing. "I don't care…" She thought about so many things as she sat there. She relived a memory of her mother's smiling face. She remembered Leona crying as she ran from something. She remembered her father and the battle she had with him… and she remembered the kiss that her spell-stricken self had forced on Zoro. She cleared her mind of all these jumbled thoughts and tried to focus on feeling better.

Zoro sat down against a tree across from her. "Well, just tell me when you're feeling up to traveling because neither of us want that weird fruit to take over again."

Mikita looked at him, going into thought once again. _The one time I'm actually pushed away and unwanted by a man…_ She looked down sadly, resting her chin against her folded up knees.

Zoro glared off into space. _Why me?_

Mikita had the same thought as she held onto her feet. _Why me? Why couldn't things have stayed the same? I'm not capable of love. This isn't fair. _

Zoro sighed and got up. He walked off into the bushes and then there was the sound of a sword getting drawn. Then several trees started falling.

Mikita looked out at the falling trees. _He surely hates me… Eh, why should I care? I'm going to find that forest and reverse these effects_. Her ears lowered and she remembered his expression after the kiss. _Grrr, I can't get that thought out of my mind!_ She sighed and blinked as she stared straight ahead. She noticed that her sight was returning to normal and that she didn't feel as bad as she did. _Good, I'm starting to feel better. Now I can go find that fruit and…_ Her thoughts were interrupted by a vision of her mother. She then heard Leona's words in her mind. _Only a kind heart can wield the Dragon Tail… Only a kind heart…_ Mikita growled and stumbled to her feet, making herself take a few steps.

Zoro walked back out of the bushes. "Well, that killed off a bit of rage, hey Mikita, you're up already?" Mikita simply nodded a bit and avoided eye contact. She still appeared sad and troubled as she walked on past him. She couldn't walk perfectly just yet, but she didn't mind that. Zoro walked behind Mikita. "So, are you heading back to the ship or are you going to keep searching?"

"Well I wouldn't want to be a burden to you now would I?" Mikita replied as she kept walking.

Zoro smirked. "Heh. Right."

"Well all right then. Don't ask anymore stupid questions."

Zoro glared. "Shut up."

"You can tell me to do it, but it doesn't mean I will." Mikita smirked. Zoro half drew one of his swords. "Do you want me to make you shut up?" Mikita stopped and stood in front of him with that same taunting look on her face. "Do it. Go ahead. I'd like to see you try." She stood there and awaited the moment that he'd snap.

An anime vein popped on Zoro's head. "Why you..." He drew the Sandaime Kitetsu. "Alright then! If you're looking for a fight you've got one!" Mikita simply stood there and looked into his eyes with a charming smirk. "You've got every opportunity. Might as well get your hatred out of your system. Who's gonna stop you? It certainly won't be me."

Zoro glared. "Fine!" He charged at Mikita and took a slash at her. Mikita didn't fight against this, nor did she block as a gash was created across her chest. "What's the matter? Can't stand those irritating feelings inside?" She smiled a sneaky smile as blood dripped from her wound, but she made no advances to heal it just yet. She wanted to get inside the mind of the swordsman and irritate him.

Zoro glared. "What the problem is… is that you won't freakin' shut up!" Mikita just grinned and laughed a little. "Yeah, I'm sure that's what the problem is…" He thrusted at Mikita's left shoulder and then drew the Yubashiri and cut at her midsection. Mikita had even more cuts on her now, but she kept her shows of pain to a minimum as she kept her teasing expression. "You really think you can replace those feelings with the hatred that you wish you still felt for me? Well guess what? It's too late, because I know something you don't…"

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"What's the point of telling you if you wouldn't admit to it anyway? Why, perhaps you already know." Zoro looked pissed. "Well it won't matter if I cut your throat."

"But you won't do it will you?" Mikita smirked as she walked closer to him slyly. "If you could, you would have done it already." She approached him and tenderly touched his arm with her silky fingers. "You are becoming just as easily affected as I am…" She acquired a passionate gaze. "And you can't deny it." Zoro twitched involuntarily. "Stop messing with me Mikita."

She smiled with her success and walked her pointer and index fingers up his arm to his shoulder. "That's what I thought." She moved her claw to a vital point on his neck, barely touching the skin. "You see? Either of us could choose to end this…" She then moved so close to him that he could feel the heat of her breath. "But it doesn't necessarily mean that we will." She grinned and moved her claw away from his neck, backing away a bit. "So, you still determined to find that apple?"

He looked even more pissed than before. "Of course I am!"

"Good. Then stop wasting my time and let's find that forest!" Mikita yelled as she took off running. Zoro ran alongside her glancing left and right. "How are we supposed to tell if it's the right area?" Mikita rolled her eyes. "Don't start with me swordsman!" He glared. "Why not? I couldn't see any difference between the apple you ate and an ordinary one!" Mikita growled. "We'll find it when we find it, so SHUT UP! Jeez, you irritate me!"

Meanwhile, Leona was still in the process of explaining her thoughts to Sanji. "So… when he left that evening, he said he was going to go out for some air, but… he actually went to see this girl…" Leona's eyes were gleaming with sadness as she spoke.

Sanji was listening attentively to Leona's story. "Dirty scumbag... how dare he see another woman while he was with you..." Nami came out and Sanji's eyes turned to hearts as he started at her, and then quickly turned back to Leona.

Leona continued. "Mikita told me about this and I didn't believe her at first… but when I went and saw him for myself, he was kissing her."

Sanji looked downcast. "Poor you, Leona-swan." Leona looked at him. "Don't pity me just yet… You see, it was all a big misunderstanding. It wasn't Lutious's fault." She took in a breath. "The woman was a witch… and she had placed a spell on him. I didn't know this and I thought that it was all Lutious's fault… so I killed him. Once I found out that it was merely a spell…" She buried her hands in her face. "It was too late."

Sanji listened to her story's finish and breathed in deeply. "It's still not your fault Leona-swan. It was the other woman's. Not yours." Leona looked up at him with watery eyes. "But I wouldn't let him explain… I killed him." She looked away. "It was my fault… and I have to live with it every day."

Sanji put his hand on Leona's shoulder. "It's still not your fault, Leona-swan. Don't blame yourself for it. Besides, if you cry then it'll make me feel bad for making you explain this."

"But you didn't make me. I wanted to tell you San-San." Leona smiled at him gently. "Thanks for listening to my story. I'm going to go lie down a while. Let me know when Mikita comes back." She stood up and walked inside.

Sanji nodded and pointed. "The dorms are that way Leona-swan. Luffy's bed, Zoro's bed and my bed are all free, so feel free to use any of them." He stared out at the forest again.

Mikita and Zoro's search was getting nowhere and the skies were growing darker once again. Mikita was actually getting tired from the running as she stopped and took a few breaths. "This is hopeless! It's almost night again and we still haven't found it!"

Zoro looked around. "I could always cut down every tree we come across until we do..." Mikita gave him a strange look. "What's that supposed to do?"

"It'll remove the trees we know the fruit's _not_ in."

Mikita just stared at him and paused. "Don't be stupid." She then started walking again. "You know, if you weren't a man… or a human… I'd probably listen to you." She smirked with her teasing.

Zoro glared. "We can think just fine! People like Ero-cook and the captain are just poor examples of our mental abilities."

"Like I said, if you weren't a man or a human I might actually care about what you just said, but since you are…" She turned to him with her taunting grin. "I don't really care what you say."

Zoro glared. "Whatever. Why should I listen to what a woman has to say anyways?"

Mikita was pretending to ignore him, and after a few seconds she turned to him and asked, "Oh I'm sorry. Did you say something?"

Zoro, likewise, ignored her. Mikita smirked at him and kept walking. That's when she went back to her thoughts. _We're getting nowhere. That forest is nowhere in sight, and I surely don't recognize this place. Pretty soon it's going to get dark again and I'll have to wait even longer. By then it might be too late. Oh I can't let that happen…_ Her mind struck an idea as she smiled. "I got it!" She noticed an apple tree nearby and took one from it, taking a bite of it. She then looked at Zoro and frowned. "Nope. That's not it." She sighed and looked around again.

Zoro drew out a sword and cut the tree down. "Now we know which tree not to pick from at least." Mikita looked at him with a surprised smile. "Hey! You were thinking the same thing I was!" She then lost the smile and shook her head. "I have to find that apple soon before I end up agreeing with you again." He glared. "Yeah, wouldn't want that to happen..." He said it in a sarcastic tone. "Seriously, would it kill you to be more agreeable?" Mikita returned the glare. "Why should I?"

"Because it'll lengthen your lifespan. At least it will if you keep hanging around me."

Mikita rolled her eyes. "Right," she stated sarcastically. She took down another apple from a nearby tree and took a bite of it, chewing it and swallowing it quickly. She looked at him again and appeared aggravated and disappointed. "Shit!" She then turned around and angrily muttered, "Still cute." Her eye twitched as she walked on, determined to find the right tree. Zoro cut that tree down too. _Did she just say cute?_ His eyes widened. _Oh crap, we've got to find that tree fast!_


	6. Chapter 6

It was now nightfall. The skies darkened black and the stars sparkled above. Leona's eyes studied the night sky as she worried about Mikita. "Where is she? It's dark outside and they're still not back." Leona was becoming a bit stressed about Mikita's failure to return, but she kept it together to the best of her ability. Sanji tossed what was left of his cigarette into the water below. "If that idiot got her lost..." Leona started to laugh at Sanji. "You're so protective."

Karasu was inside looking at Luffy with sleepy eyes. "I'm not falling asleep first…" Luffy was staring Karasu competitively in the eye. "No way... I'm not falling asleep first!"

"Well not I'm either not!" Karasu yelled, making no sense as she opened her eyes wider by using her fingers to pull her eyelids apart.

Leona looked out toward the pitch-black forest. _Mikita, please be all right._

In the forest, many trees around them had been chopped down, even the ones that didn't necessarily need to be taken down. Mikita used her firepowers to make a fire with the wood that Zoro had chopped up. "Jeez, did you have to go overkill on all those trees?" Zoro shrugged. "Well, at least we know which ones aren't the one we're looking for." Mikita took hold of her feet as she sat there with her knees up. "Whatever." She rested her chin on her knee and looked at the fire. Zoro sighed and he fell back, starting to go to sleep. "Just make sure you don't let that fruit win. Whatever you do."

Mikita glared into the flames. _What if I can't help it? What if we never find that fruit? I'll be stuck with these feelings and… No I can't!_ She hit her forehead against her knee, soon stopping to look at the swordsman. _When I kissed him, it sent the effects to him as well. I wonder to what extent he feels it? What if he… No he hates me too much, but still… What if I ruined his dream? Haha! I ruined that loser's dream. _That's when she stopped and thought about it for a minute before asking, "So, what is your dream anyway? What are you trying to accomplish?" Curiosity had gotten the best of her and she had to ask.

Zoro opened an eye and sat up. "My dream is to become the worlds strongest swordsman." Mikita looked at him with interest as she tilted her head to the side slightly. "Really?" She looked away and thought about that for a moment, then looked at him again. "Why?"

Zoro took out the Wadou. "Nine years ago I was the student of a sword dojo at that dojo the top student was a girl named Kuina. She was my ultimate rival, and I never was able to beat her. One day we both promised each other that one of us would someday become the worlds greatest. But... the next day Kuina died, falling down a flight of stairs. Her father gave me her sword and so now I carry on the dream of becoming the best for both of us."

Mikita snickered. "You lost to a girl." When she looked at him and saw his expression, she sighed and stopped being cruel. She just couldn't bring herself to laugh too much in his expense at the time. She looked at her Dragon Tail at her side and touched the handle. _He has something to carry on as well…_ This brought memories back to her and her eyes tapered with unhappiness.

Zoro slid the Wadou into his belt, his eyes filling with memory. He lay back again. "See you in the morning... unfortunately." He closed his eyes and Mikita looked at him sadly and angrily. "Yeah…" She was also overwhelmed with memories. _Mother… How will I ever become the person you want me to be? How can I take your place? I wish I knew what to do_. She looked at Zoro for a moment and forced herself to look away quickly. She had something inside of her, bugging her, and she fought hard to rid it. Her ear turned toward a particular direction and she had the pondering look in her eyes. After a moment of thought, she stood up and walked off. Zoro could feel Mikita walking away. Some part of him told him to go after her, but he quickly fought it off. _Why the hell am I feeling concerned about her anyways?_

Mikita walked on in the darkness and found what she was looking for. She found a river and knelt next to it, cupping her hands and drinking some water.

Zoro finally couldn't stand it anymore. He got up and started walking after her. _Damn it! Why can't I just leave her alone?_

Mikita looked around her to make sure the coast was clear, and to make sure that she wasn't in any danger as she stood up. Her ear turned to the direction of a particular sound and she turned her head quickly in defense to see what it was. It was a squirrel scurrying toward a tree with its walnut. Mikita sighed and turned to look at the river. The water rippled with the moonlight's glow and it interested her as she became calmer inside.

The pirate hunter followed what trail Mikita had left behind as he silently followed. Zoro finally saw Mikita at a body of water. She was looking into it and he sighed. He walked around a tree so that neither of them could see each other. Mikita had her back turned to him as she looked into the water. She didn't know he was there. After a little bit of looking into the water, she did something that he probably wasn't expecting: She slipped her clothes off from her shoulders and dropped them on the ground. Her bare bottom was revealed among her slow flowing tail.

Zoro heard something light hitting the ground where Mikita was. He chanced a look, and almost instantly whipped his head back, his face having gone entirely red from embarrassment. Mikita put her arms above her head and dived into the water. She came back up rather quickly and yelled, "Oh shit! That's cold!" She moved her hair away from her face and moved her hands through the rippling water, watching the motions it caused. Zoro was determinably not making a sound. _Maybe if I edge away slowly, she won't notice..._

Mikita heard the sounds of him leaving and she looked toward his direction, but she didn't see anything and shrugged, submerging herself back under the water. He was off the hook for now, and he'd be lucky if she never found out that he had seen her. Zoro edged off into the bushes and started back to the camp slowly and quietly.

Mikita remained in the water as she bathed. She was also in deep thought. _I sure hope I can find that apple tomorrow before it's too late… _She kept having thoughts of Zoro and she stared blankly into the water. _At least I hope that's how I still feel… What am I thinking? Of course I don't want to end up with him._ She watched as water dripped from her bangs. _But then again…_ She sighed in frustration. "Mother… Why did you have to have me? I'm just a mistake. I especially feel that way right now." She sunk her thoughts as she went under the water again.

Zoro made it back to the camp and lay down. _Thank god I wasn't noticed..._ He lay back at the campsite, still sifting through his thoughts. _Why am I so concerned about her all of a sudden? It's unfair. I can't get into a relationship, if I get tied down to one place or person, then I might end up stopping my search for Mihawk. I can't let that happen!_

Mikita floated on her back in the water, looking up at the sky and thinking. _If I don't find that fruit… I'll end up falling in love with Zoro. I know he doesn't want to be with me. I don't particularly want to be around him either, but what if we end up with no choice?_ Mikita stood straight in the water. _I don't know why I care about what he thinks all of a sudden, but either way he has more of a reason to live than I do. I can't interfere with his dream. In the end, I might just have to face the lingering feelings alone…_ She rung her hair out and shivered, putting her arms around herself in an attempt to keep herself warmer as she walked toward the shore.

Back at the camp, Zoro had fallen asleep. As Mikita approached, she noticed this and smirked. She had the urge to sling her cold wet hair on him… and so she did just that. "Heh. Couldn't resist." She rang her hair out even more above him as the icy cold water fell on his face. Zoro's eyes snapped open and he rolled out of the way of the rest of it. "DON'T DO THAT! Unless you want me to punch you..." Mikita just laughed a little. "So you're not very tolerable of the cold either I see…" He glared. "Do that one more time and I'll thank you with a fist." He went back down and tried to go back to sleep.

Mikita's expression went to a gloomy frown and she turned away. "All right I'll leave you alone… I can take a hint." She walked over to the other side of the fire, shivering as she sat there and hugged her knees. "I've decided that… if we don't find that apple, I'll leave you so you won't have to put up with me. Maybe the feelings will just disappear." Her expression seemed as if she desired otherwise. "I'll just have to deal with it…" She lowered her head and shut her eyes.

He got up again and stared at her. "Except... if we don't find it, then the feelings it put in me won't disappear either." Mikita opened her eyes and looked at him sadly. "Just blame it on me…" She looked away and shivered, resting her head on her knee. "I don't mind." She was so hurt and confused inside, and it showed by her expression.

Zoro glared off into space. "I'm not really one to blame things on other people though." Mikita still did not look at him. "I'm used to having things blamed on me… because everything's usually my fault anyway." She paused a moment as she shivered. "I was born a mistake… because every day I make them." She sighed and continued. "I-I have a dream too but… it doesn't really matter anymore because I'll never accomplish it. I don't even deserve to." She shivered even harder and clamped her teeth together, trying to stiffen up and not shiver. It seemed that she was holding back more as well, like her emotions.

Zoro raised an eyebrow. "Yeah? What's your dream? Whatever it is, it shouldn't be abandoned."

Mikita never liked to talk about her feelings. She never liked revealing her past or her emotions. Mikita squinted her eyes. "I promised my mother… that I would be like her and carry on in her place." She looked at the Dragon Tail. "She was a kind-hearted demon, and she held the right to wield the Dragon Tail… but I was the mistake that came along and ruined that for her." Mikita strongly swallowed the gathering saliva in her mouth.

Zoro glared at her. "If you're going to give up on that, then you're even more pathetic than I first took you for. Your mother carried on her dream until she died. Every person on our ship will carry on their dream until they accomplish it or die. If you can't do something as simple as that, then you'd never have accomplished it anyways. But if you keep going, even if you fail then at least you tried."

Mikita didn't even feel the need to snap back. "Perhaps I am pathetic in your eyes, but you don't understand…" She looked up at him. "I was the reason that she died…" She paused and closed her eyes tightly. "My lack of knowledge… because I never knew my traitor of a father… is what killed her. It's not something I'm proud of bringing up." She looked at him with a sad glare. "But you are the one that's wrong about me. I haven't given up. Don't you think I've tried?" She took in a shaky breath. "I try everyday… but no one was ever willing to give me a chance…" Her voice began to shake and so did her eyes, so she turned away and shivered with what seemed to be her coldness, but was actually something else.

Zoro looked away. "Well at least you haven't given up." He glared at her. "But don't go thinking you're the only one who's had their share of disappointments in their dreams." Mikita didn't respond as she sniffed and made a low, saddened sound every now and then through her shaking. Zoro looked at Mikita and was surprised to see that she was crying. _Crap..._ "What did I say?"

"Nothing… I'm not crying…" Mikita replied, although her rattling voice said otherwise. She still tried to hide it as her voice trailed off to a whisper and she added, "I'm just cold." That probably made it all the more obvious. Zoro got up and walked over to her. "You can't be cold, you're standing next to a fire." Mikita desperately kept her face out of his sight. "I'm fine…" She paused and sniffed. "Go ahead… you can leave me like the others did… Just don't hurt me and I'll be okay."

Zoro saw a few tears on her face before she hid it. "Why the hell are you crying all of a sudden?" Mikita leaned away from him in slight fear. "Why do you care? All you want to do is kill me… or criticize me, or… something." She wiped her face with her arm. "And I'm not crying… it's the water dripping from my hair." She still wasn't willing to admit her tears. Zoro sighed. "You're crying and you know it, and thanks to that damn fruit it's making me feel guilty."

"I am not!" Mikita yelled through her shaky voice. Her body was still shaking with her tears, and also from the coldness of being in that river. She also seemed to be acting leery around him.

Zoro grabbed her chin and lifted it up so that her face was in clear view. "Yes, you are! There's no need to do this. Neither of us are going to give up on our dreams, and that fruit won't interfere in them."

She looked into his eyes as he held her chin there and her heart fluttered. He was so close to her, touching her. Her fear was amplified in a way, but she also seemed to feel strange effects from the fruit, and this greatly confused her inside. It was something that she wasn't used to. "Wh-What are you saying?" Zoro sighed. "I'm saying we'll reverse this. That way, we'll both be able to continue on with our lives and our dreams once this is over." Mikita looked sadly at him. Instead of feeling the same way, she felt hurt by this. She slowly pulled her chin away. "You'll have much better luck than I will… but if that's what will make you happy… I understand." Zoro started walking back. "Don't tell me that you actually want the effects to stay in place!"

"The person I'm supposed to be wouldn't desire them… Or would I? I want to be who she wants me to be, but… I just can't do it." Mikita was practically talking to herself now. She laughed lightly with sarcasm. "You wouldn't want to become tangled up in my life anyway. What was I thinking? Perhaps this fruit is messing with me a little too much." He shrugged. "Maybe. But it's messing with my emotions as well. Don't make me make any promises to you I'll regret later, and I'll show you the same courtesy."

Mikita looked at him and shook her head slowly. "I don't know why I ever thought you could… No, it was crazy. I couldn't even accept that." Mikita laid down and closed her eyes. "Just forget I ever mentioned it. It'll all be over soon." Zoro slowly nodded. "Alright." Mikita opened her eyes a moment to glance at him, but it only hurt her worse inside, so she turned over the other way. _I'm sorry mother… I tried._ She was still shivering, so she curled up in a ball and hugged her knees as she laid there on her side.

Zoro looked back at her. She looked like he had hurt her in some way again. He sighed. _Great... just great... is the fruit starting to take effect again?_ Mikita was still just lying there, curled up, shivering, and hurt inside as she pondered her thoughts. All of her thoughts and feelings interfered with her sleep. Zoro, on the other hand, couldn't sleep because of a guilt going through her. He had somehow hurt Mikita and now he felt guilty about it. It was all the fault of that stupid fruit. If it hadn't have come in.…

If it hadn't have come in, Mikita wouldn't have considered giving new chances a try for her mother's sake… for her own. Zoro got up. "Let's go. We're not going to get any sleep tonight at this rate." Mikita sat up and looked at him. She was so miserable inside that it was apparent on the outside. Her emotions turned to aggravation soon as she noticed that he was practically rushing to find that fruit and get rid of her. She stood up and stormed by him. "Fine. Whatever." Zoro smirked. "Well, that's more like you." He followed after her. Mikita just glared back at him through the corner of her eye.

Meanwhile on the Merry, Leona was pacing the deck. "San-San, I'm worried. Should we go look for them?" Sanji looked out. "Yes. I'm worried about Mikita-sama." Leona nodded. "Right. Karasu, you stay here with Luffy. We'll be back." Leona took off for the forest. There was enough sunlight to see as the morning was arriving. Sanji kicked off from the deck and ran alongside Leona. "That idiot had better not have gotten Mikita-sama into trouble!"

Karasu watched them leave, then shrugged and turned back to Luffy. "I'm still not gonna fall asleep fir—" At that moment, she hit the floor twitching. She was out cold asleep.

Mikita took a bite of another apple and threw it at Zoro's head. "That wasn't it either! Ugh! I'm really starting to get pissed here!" Zoro caught and tried taking a bite himself, just to be sure. "Guess you're right..." He quickly cut the tree down, and kept running. Mikita was furious so she ran faster and passed him up. She looked around her at the trees, and this distracted her to the point that she didn't see the huge cliff in front of her that she was headed straight for. Before she could stop herself, she slid off the edge and almost fell to her death, had she not grabbed onto the edge with her claws. She shouted and held on to the best of her ability. Zoro saw her slip and ran over to her. When Mikita looked up and saw him, it reminded her of her dream and how it ended. This amplified her fear.

He stood over her and reached down to try and help her up. "Geez, you're clumsy." Mikita's eyes widened and she looked at him with surprise. _He's trying to help me? _She was almost to the point of slipping and falling as her claws almost gave way on her. She had spent so much time thinking and hesitating that her hands nearly slipped. Zoro quickly snagged her hand before she could fall. "Come on." He started to pull her up. Mikita kept a mildly surprised expression as she took hold of his hand and allowed him to help her up.

Once she got up where he was, she just stared at him, not sure of what to feel or say. Real life turned out differently than in her dream. Zoro was trying to avoid eye contact with her. "Are you alright?" Mikita opened her mouth to answer, but she couldn't form words, so she simply nodded and made an approving sound through a closed mouth. "Mmm hmm…" She kept glancing eye contact, but she tried not to look him straight in the eye. Zoro stepped back a bit. "So, are you ready to go...?" He said it in a hesitant voice though. Mikita looked at him right quick and took in a breath. "Y-Yeah. Let's go. I can't keep you from your dream any longer." She swallowed and walked by, continuing her search for the apple. Zoro followed after her. _What was that? Why'd I suddenly feel so concerned for her? It didn't make sense..._

Mikita walked on in her search as she thought about the situation as well. _He's starting to become concerned for me… but it's not him. It's the spell… just as it's messing with me. I have to find that apple. Otherwise, I'll only be in his way._ Mikita looked down at her feet as she walked, thinking once again about her mother and what she wishes she could be. She dispelled the thoughts and looked up to see a familiar place. "Hey, this place looks familiar." Then she noticed the scent-altering roses in the bush that she had encountered earlier. "Hey! That's the bush! This is the place… but I just have to resist the urge to sniff the flowers this time." The apple tree wasn't far from her and her eyes directed to it. She looked at it happily and ran over to take an apple from the tree. "This is it! This is the right one!" She held it in her hand and looked at Zoro with her smile, but the smile turned to a frown after she had processed what was happening. She looked back down at the apple in her hands, as she thought about it a bit longer.

Zoro decided to let her do the honors first. Mikita noticed that he wasn't rushing to eat the fruit. _Could it be that he's hesitating too? No, it's just the effects of the fruit… Just the fruit. _Mikita convinced herself of this inside and she inhaled, soon taking a bite of the apple. Zoro watched her, and then waited for his turn to get it.

Once she took a bite of the apple, she just stared at it for a bit, then turned to him. Suspense was in the air. What was her reaction going to be? What will she feel now? After a bit of processing what she felt inside, she smirked and threw the apple at him. "Ha, glad that's over." On the outside, she appeared as if she didn't have the lingering emotions anymore.

Zoro also ate what was left of the apple quickly and tossed away the core. "Yeah. Now we won't interfere with each other's dreams."

"Well now that that's out of my system…" She unsheathed the Dragon Tail and glared at him. "I can't let you live now. You've seen and heard a little too much." Zoro looked surprised. "What was that?"

"Duh! When you saw my…" She then paused and raised an eyebrow. "Wait, what did you think I meant by that?" Zoro glared. "I have no idea." Mikita stared at him strangely. "I was talking about when you saw my tears…" She still looked at him as if she knew he was keeping something from her. Zoro raised an eyebrow. "What about that?"

Mikita finally just sighed and sheathed her Dragon Tail as she turned away from him. "Never mind. Just… go on with your dream. You're free from me now." She started walking away, most likely not knowing where she was going. Zoro looked back. "You should probably go back to the Merry first, to let your sisters know you're alright." Mikita just glared at him. "What do you care?" She turned away and continued on her way. He walked away. "They'll be worried about you."

Mikita growled and looked back at him, but then she smirked. _He's going the wrong way… Oh well. No need in telling him._ She continued on her way, following the scent of the path they had taken.

Zoro simply walked on, starting to think he liked her better when she was under the fruits influence. Mikita had her own thoughts as she walked along as well, except she spoke out loud to herself. "Well I'll bet he's happy now without having me around. He'll go on his way and I'll go on my way… whatever my way is." She sighed and kicked a pebble along the way. "I know I can't give up on my dream, but it's sure going to be a pain in the ass to accomplish it now." Mikita then glared at the ground as she walked. "Hn, I'll just have to become stronger physically. Maybe there's another way to wield the Dragon Tail without having to be all mushy… yeah. There's gotta be, because there's no way that's going to happen. Not for me."

As Zoro ran through the forest, he thought he heard something move in the bushes just ahead of him. He shrugged it off and kept running. At that instant, someone dressed in black rushed through the bushes and collided with him, resulting in both Zoro, and the person being almost knocked out.

"Zoro…?" Leona asked as she looked at the two of them. Sanji and Zoro both got up, and started arguing almost immediately. "WHAT'S THE BIG IDEA, RUNNING INTO ME?"

"I COULD ASK YOU THE SAME YOU MARIMO!"

"SHUT UP ERO-COOK!"

"STOP IT!" Leona intervened. "That's enough! Where's Mikita?" Zoro shrugged. "She went off right after we found the right tree and cured ourselves." Leona looked down in slight disappointment. "Oh, so you did find the fruit… I see." Leona then looked back up. "But where's Mikita? Which way did she go? Is she all right?" He shrugged. "I don't know. She threatened to kill me, and then walked off." Sanji jumped up. "YOU LEFT MIKITA-SAMA ALONE IN THIS PLACE?"

"HOW COULD YOU?" Leona added as she stared him down angrily. Zoro glared. "What's the big deal about it? Aside from the fact that Ero-cook's a flirt who likes to see wrong in anything I do..." He ducked a kick from Sanji and tried to punch him but missed. Leona groaned with frustration and put her hands on her head, pacing the forest floor. "Do you have any idea of all the things that could happen? She could be attacked! She could get lost! She could get—!"

Breaking off Leona's sentence to finish it by demonstration, while the three of them were out in the forest bickering, Mikita was fine. In fact, she found her way back to the ship. "There it is." She went inside and saw that Karasu and Luffy were asleep on the floor, sprawled out in strange positions. She just smiled and shook her head. That's when it hit her. She was sleepy. She yawned and stretched, letting her eyes wander until she saw Zoro's resting place. The bird's nest looked so comfortable to her; of course anything would because she was so fatigued, so she climbed in it. She smelled Zoro's scent in it and halfway smiled as she closed her eyes. She was asleep in no time, despite her roaming thoughts.

In the meantime, there was still a dispute in the forest. Zoro glared. "Do I look like I care what happens to her? Geez! She freakin' threatened to kill me!"

"Then why didn't you react like you usually do and threaten to kill _her_ right back?" Leona snapped back. "You know you would have under normal circumstances." She looked at him with a sneaky grin knowing that she was making a point. He raised an eyebrow. "Who's to say I didn't?" This irritated Sanji even more, and he tried to kick Zoro again, but missed. Leona just raised her eyebrow right back with her smile. "Well who's to say you did?" She stared him down for a moment. "Who's the one that sees the future here?" Zoro smirked. "Heh. I don't believe in that sort of crap." Leona half glared. "Well you're not very open-minded then are you?"

"Give me one good reason I should believe in that kind of crap."

"Because…" Leona started as she walked a bit closer. "I know _your_ future." She smirked. Zoro smirked as he started walking again. "I have only one future. That's to be the world's strongest swordsman. That is my future." Leona just smiled and watched him walk off. _You'll see for yourself Zoro… You'll see…_


	7. Chapter 7

Zoro walked back over to the ship. "Damn I'm tired..." He climbed up the mast towards his favorite sleeping spot to realize that someone was occupying it. "Mikita... bad choice of place to sleep. By now you know where not to sleep." He lifted her up and then calmly dropped her out of the crow's nest, not really caring if she broke something in the fall, as long as she didn't die. He climbed into his spot and started to fall asleep.

Mikita was half-asleep as she sat up. "Oh… I fell out of the tree again." She wasn't entirely awake and she stood up, climbing right back into the crow's nest with Zoro! She had her eyes closed and she lay right next to him and cuddled up to him, becoming attracted to his warmth. She didn't know it was him however as she purred and remained asleep. Zoro's eyes snapped open. "What the hell are you doing?" Mikita moved only a little. "What did I tell you about yelling at me in the mornings Karasu?" She was still sleep talking.

Zoro lifted her up again and tossed her out, aiming for the water. Mikita landed in the cold water and it woke her up almost instantly. She came up to surface and yelled, "FUCKTARD!" She instinctively knew it was Zoro that did it, so she stormed back onto the ship and stood before him, dripping water and glaring.

Zoro shrugged. "It's better than the alternative." Mikita turned her back to him and smirked, flipping her hair back and splashing him with the cold water from her hair. She then turned to face him. "So was that."

Zoro smirked. "What? Was the alternative killing me? As if you could do that!" Mikita simply returned the smirk. "Well neither can you. You didn't even uphold your word." He glared. "I could kill you if I chose to. Do you want me to prove it?" Mikita rolled her eyes and laughed. "You keep telling yourself that. You know, if you laid a finger on me right now, there'd be too many witnesses around anyway." She smirked and walked off yelling, "Hey pervert! Get me some breakfast!" Zoro glared. "Whatever. At least she's gone..." He went to sleep.

Mikita ordered Sanji around. "I want some cherry cheesecake and some milk." And of course, as usual, it was delivered to Mikita immediately. Mikita blinked in surprise. "Damn, where does this food come from? Thin air?" Sanji simply smiled at her, flirtingly. Mikita's eye twitched and she walked off to her own corner to eat. Leona walked over to Mikita while she was eating. "Would it kill you to be a bit more polite?" Mikita just looked at her. "Yes." Leona sighed and Karasu jumped up, staring at Mikita's food. "I WANT CHEESECAKE!" Sanji zoomed off into the kitchens to make some more. Usopp watched this and sighed. "At this rate, we'll be out of food in no time..."

Leona took this into consideration. "Mikita. Karasu. You two share that cheesecake all right?" Mikita and Karasu were playing tug-of-war with the cheesecake, but then they shrugged and decided to just share it. Leona blinked. "Whoa… they actually listened to me? That's new…" Mikita sliced the cheesecake into two uneven portions with her claws and handed the smaller portion to Karasu with a smirk.

"Nuh-uh!" Karasu yelled. "You're not ripping me off here!" She pounced on Mikita and the two of them got into a fight. They clawed each other up and rolled all around the Merry's deck. Leona sweatdropped. "So much for that…"

Sanji gave a smile at them. "There's enough for both of you Karasu-chwan and Mikita-sama!" The two sisters stopped wrestling and looked at him. "Okay," they said at the same time. "Jinx. Jinx! JINX! I got it! No I did! ME!" they continued to yell until Leona intervened. "Stop it! You two are acting like children." They just looked at her and blinked. Usopp and Nami stared at them, slowly backing away. Leona sweatdropped. "Uhh, we should probably go soon. We need to give you guys a break from us," she giggled.

Mikita nodded. "All right, but first…" She smirked and focused her attention on Zoro. She cracked her fingers and snuck over to him. As Mikita crept over towards Zoro, the swordsman spoke in a low voice. "Don't even think about it." Mikita glared and scratched him across the face. "You're supposed to be asleep you bastard!" Leona hit Mikita in the back of the head. "Heal those scratches right now Mikita! That's not nice!" Mikita lowered her ears at her sister and put her hand on Zoro's cheek to heal him. For some odd reason when she looked into his eyes, she growled and jerked her hand away once the scrapes were gone. She gave him one last strange gaze before turning and walking off.

Zoro had immediately broken eye contact with her as soon as she'd started healing him. As she went to leave, he added a note. "Thanks." Mikita was surprised at this as she stopped and lightly gasped. She glanced back at him before rushing out of the ship. Leona watched this closely and suspiciously. "Hmm…" She just shook her head and turned to Sanji. "Well, see you tomorrow San-San." She smiled and embraced him. Sanji actually blushed a bit and gave her a quick hug back. "See you later Leona-swan." Leona saw his blushing cheeks and she turned red as well as she held in a giggle and ran out of the ship. As she ran, she called, "Come on Karasu! Let's go!"

Karasu was 'swapping licks' with Luffy as she punched him in the arm. Both Karasu and Luffy's arms were red, but Karasu's was even redder because of Luffy's stretching abilities. She heard Leona and jumped up. "See ya Luffy! We'll continue this tomorrow!" Luffy punched a fist into the air. "You bet!"

Later that evening as the sisters returned to their place in the forest, it was a typical routine. Mikita was exercising, Karasu was being stupid, and Leona was staring at both of them strangely. "What are you two up to?"

"I'm playing grapes!" Karasu exclaimed as she held two grapes, one in each hand. She spoke for each one individually. "I'm the mommy grape. I'm the daddy grape…" Leona smiled and rolled her eyes, turning to Mikita. "And you? What are you doing Mikita?" Mikita was doing push-ups and counting, "Ninety six… ninety seven… Ninety eight… ninety nine… One hundred." She stopped and looked at Leona. "I'm becoming physically stronger so that I won't seem weak."

"To that swordsman?" Leona finished for her. Mikita glared and kept exercising. "One hundred and one… one hundred and two…" Leona sighed. "What is it with you two? Do you hate each other that much?"

"Maybe. What's it to you?" Mikita asked before she continued. "One hundred five… one hundred six…"

"Because you seemed to act strange before we left. Even he did. You even rushed off the ship and—"

"Shut up Leona. It's nothing," Mikita interrupted. "I'm getting stronger so that I can beat our faggot father. He didn't stand a chance in our last encounter." Leona looked surprised. "You saw him just recently?"

"Yeah in the forest."

"What happened? Did he hurt you?"

"No," Mikita replied as she stopped exercising and sat there. "He didn't get a chance to do anything because that swordsman was there with me. I'm kind of lucky in that aspect I guess, but did that idiot give a shit that he actually helped me out…?"

Leona raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?" Mikita just looked at her for a bit before directing her sight elsewhere. "Never mind." She stood up and stretched her arm and leg muscles. Leona studied her emotions at the time and asked, "It was because of that spell wasn't it? The Dragon Tail was stronger because of the effects of that apple…"

"Pssh! Yeah right. It was my skills. That's all," Mikita said as she stretched.

"LIAR!" Karasu yelled out spontaneously. Mikita whipped her head in Karasu's direction, prepared to yell at her, but then she saw that Karasu wasn't talking to her. She was still playing grapes. "You never loved me! You're just stupid! I'm going to abuse you!" She smashed the grapes together and they splattered on her face. She got grape juice in her eye and she jumped up, running around blindly and yelling, "IT BURNS! IT BURNS!" She finally smacked into a tree and fell over backwards. Leona and Mikita sweatdropped.

"How many times has she done that and not gotten a concussion?" Leona asked in confusion. "I have no idea," Mikita replied, soon returning to her exercises.

Zoro was training with his enormous weights back at the ship. "300... 301... 302..." He noticed something small out of the corner of his eye and as he kept on working with his weights he looked down at Chopper. "Zoro? Can I ask you something?" Zoro nodded. "Sure." Chopper went a bit red. "Do you... like Mikita?" There was a crashing sound on the ship as Zoro's weights fell. The Strawhat pirates were then treated to an unusual sight. A terrified reindeer running around the ship using his Speed point, while an enraged Zoro chased after him, slashing at him with a sword. "YOU GET BACK HERE YOU LITTLE BASTARD! THERE'S NO WAY I'D POSSIBLY LIKE A LITTLE BITCH LIKE HER!" Chopper was screaming in terror. "HELP! NAMI! LUFFY! ZORO'S GONE CRAZY!!!"

Later that day, Mikita went to a nearby town and decided to have a little fun. Screams were heard all around there, blood splattered, bodies were sprawled out everywhere. Mikita was right in the commotion of it all, breaking a window as glass shattered everywhere. She licked her fangs and leaped out of the store that she was in, carrying an item of food. As she bit into it, it wasn't long before she spit it back out. "Ugh! Disgusting! You'd think there would be better service around here." She heard the sounds of people surrounding her and she looked all around her. The police had gotten there sooner than she expected.

"There she is! Mikita Shikaku!" One of the officers exclaimed. "We finally found her! She came out of hiding," another officer added. They approached and surrounded her cautiously with their guns pointed aimed at her. "We've got you surrounded! Come with us willingly and there will be no—!" The officer speaking was cut short by her throwing a flame claw into his throat, killing him instantly.

"Anyone else got anything bright to say?" Mikita taunted as she glared at them.

"Fire!" A policeman shouted and they all began shooting at her. Mikita simply grinned. She had done this before and it was all a thrill to her. She leaped upon the authority vehicle near her and unsheathed her Dragon Tail, slashing it at the ones near it and killing them quickly. She turned to the others. "You're not strong enough to handle a demon's sword." She proceeded with her attacks and the officers never backed down.

A net was fired toward her and she simply sliced it before it reached her. She slaughtered the one that initiated the net capturing sequence and growled at the remaining three with her bloody fangs. She gave an intimidating growl and charged at them, but she was stopped short by a stinging sensation in her butt. She looked back to see that a tranquilizer had been fired at her and it stuck into her, working effectively as the medicine went into her. She growled at the one behind her and slashed at him with her claws, puncturing his jugular vein and leaving him lying there to bleed to death in a matter of seconds.

Another officer shot at her and a bullet went into her shoulder, causing her to flinch and growl. "Keep at it! Call backup! She'll be out in no time!" They were referring to the tranquilizer that would soon take effect. Mikita easily killed the remaining law enforcement officers, yet more of them were arriving. She was already beginning to feel a bit fatigued from the tranquilizer, so she knew it was time to escape. She fled from sight and snuck away, running around the buildings and through the trees.

A helicopter was flying overhead, looking for her and trying to keep an eye on her, so she ran under a staircase until the coast was clear. Mikita was off the hook, most likely to have her bounty raised to an even greater amount.

Once she was headed back to the forest where her sisters were, she was becoming even more drug down by the tranquilizer's effects. She struggled to keep herself awake as she traveled on. Along the way, she happened to pass by the Merry. At this point, she could barely keep herself going. She felt so urged to fall over into a deep sleep.

Robin was looking out at the forest that day, when she noticed Mikita coming down the beach. She gave a start as Mikita went down, unconscious. A series of hands came out of the beach, slowly ferrying Mikita up onto the Merry. Nami was on deck as she saw the unconscious Mikita. "Chopper! Get out here!" The little reindeer ran out and saw Mikita. "AAAHHH! She's unconscious! Doctor! Doctor!" He started running around in circles panicking. "Wait, I'm the doctor!" He used his heavy point and lifted Mikita into the cabin so he could revive her.

Mikita was unaware of any of this happening because she was out cold. The wound in her shoulder was still bleeding with the bullet still inside. She hadn't healed it yet due to that fact. Chopper expertly worked, removing all materials from the wounds and then getting to work on them. He gave Mikita an antidote to the tranquilizer and walked out looking for something he could use to help her shoulder.

Zoro finally woke up and noticed a commotion going on below. He flipped out of the bird's nest and landed below. "What's going on?" Sanji glared at him. "Mikita-sama's here and she's hurt!" Zoro looked somewhat concerned. "Mikita's injured?" Sanji continued to glare. "Yes!" Zoro tried to shoulder his way past Sanji to see, but the cook simply shoved him back with his foot. "The last thing that Mikita-sama needs is to see your ugly mug." Zoro popped an anime vein. "What was that?" Roughly thirty seconds later, the sound of fighting between two pissed off men filled the Merry.

Mikita was still unconscious as a peaceful expression was woven across her face. Zoro finally managed to win that fight with one solid hit that knocked Sanji off the Merry. He then ran past the others and into Mikita's room. The young wolf lie there motionless with her mouth gently relaxed open. Zoro walked up to her. "Geez. Why'd you have to go and get yourself in this situation you idiot..." Mikita's body had yet to recuperate from the tranquilizer, so she was unable to respond or give a smart alleck retort. Zoro sighed and turned around walking out of the room. Things were starting to return to normal around the Merry.

Mikita opened her eyes and looked around her. She was still rather tired from the tranquilizer. She looked toward the door and noticed the swordsman leaving the room. That's when she realized where she was. _What's going on? Why am I here and why am I so sleepy? _She squinted her eyes at Zoro. _Why was he in here?_ She tried to clear her mind of any thoughts as she attempted to sit up, but it wasn't as simple as she saw it in her mind. She struggled and strained, but she was still too tired and her body wouldn't let her sit up. _What happened to me?_

Chopper walked back into the room. "Ah! Mikita! You're conscious!" Mikita looked over at him with an emotionless, tired stare that she soon directed elsewhere. "Why am I here?" She asked him this as she stared up at the ceiling.

Chopper walked over to her side. "You were hurt. You passed out while you were on the beach, and Robin took you on board." That's when it occurred to Mikita. _Oh yeah. Now I remember. I was shot with one of those tranquilizers._ Her eyes were still drooping as she looked around her. Chopper started to panic again. "Mikita! Don't go back to sleep!" Mikita glared at him with squinted eyes. "I'll sleep if I want to sleep. I'm sleepy."

Chopper sighed. "Alright..." He walked out of the room to tell the others Mikita had been awake. Mikita snickered. "Stupid reindeer thingy." She then accidentally fell back asleep, meaning to stay awake. Chopper started panicking. Again. "AAAAAHHHH! Mikita! Wake up!" Mikita opened her sleepy eyes again. "What do you want you pest?" Chopper turned to look at Mikita, his eyes looking big and worried. "What if you fall back asleep and don't wake up…?"

"Then I'll die peacefully," Mikita said rudely as she closed her eyes back. Chopper panicked. "AAAAAAHHHHHH! YOU SAID YOU WERE GOING TO DIE!!!" He started running around in circles again. Mikita leered at the reindeer. "Will you shut up? I meant that _if_ I die, I'd die peacefully." She tried once again to sit up, but she couldn't get up just yet, though she was getting closer. She laid her head back down and sighed.

Zoro walked into the room again. "Chopper, the crew wants me to tell you to shut-" He looked at Mikita. "You're awake." Mikita looked at him, slightly surprised. She soon got rid of that though as she looked up at the ceiling again. "Yeah…" She then tried to sit up yet again as she strained to do so. _I have to sit up. I can't look weak._

Zoro walked over to her, and Chopper left the room, feeling some tension. "So, what'd you do?" Mikita finally sat up weakly and looked at him. "Eh, I just went out for a little killing spree and got shot in the ass with a tranquilizer." Zoro wanted to laugh his head off at that, but restrained himself. "So, a ton of bad luck then?"

"No not really," Mikita started, almost laughing at herself seeing that he was holding back laughter. Zoro paused. "Not really?" Mikita looked at him and shrugged. "It happens to me a lot… bad situations I mean. Besides, this situation isn't entirely all that bad." She almost blushed at what she could have meant by that, so she looked away. _Pull yourself together Mikita. You don't feel that way. It must be the effects of that tranquilizer… yeah. _She told herself that in her mind, although she knew it wasn't true.

Zoro looked taken aback. "Well… at least this time you ended up on our ship. If you're lucky Chopper might be able to give you a slight immunity to tranquilizer in the future." Mikita just looked at him. "Maybe…" She then decided to try and get up, but of course her body wasn't ready for such a notion. Zoro sighed. "Whatever. If you can't move then just get some rest. I'll have Ero-cook send you a meal in a bit."

"I can move! Since when do you care anyway?" Mikita said as she tried to prove it, but she ended up falling back down. She sighed and gave up on trying to act all tough. She glared at him, waiting on him to say something about her weakness. _He's going to criticize me. I just know it. _Zoro sighed as he looked at her. "Just don't push yourself." He turned around to leave.

"That's it? That's all you're going to say to me? No 'you're a weakling' or 'you shouldn't be such a baka?'"

"There's never a need to point out the obvious." This made her mad and she stood up, ignoring the fact that she was extremely fatigued. She walked up to him and extended her claws. "Say that again. I dare you." She stared coldly into his eyes, her strength slowly returning to her. Zoro turned around and looked back at her coolly. "All right. There's no point in stating the obvious. That better?" She growled at him and slashed at his chest. "You just said the same thing you fucktard!" Zoro dodged the strokes. "Well, you told me to say it again."

"You—!" Mikita started to yell, but then she paused and thought about that for a moment. She then started laughing. "I did, didn't I?" Zoro sweatdropped. "You really are strange sometimes..." Mikita just smiled. "I know." She was still snickering quietly after stating that. "At least I'm not a perverted retard like you." Zoro sweatdropped. "You can say that about me after meeting him?" He pointed at Sanji on deck.

"Yeah. Why not? You're all the same," Mikita stated simply. Zoro shrugged. "Same to you. Anyways, you should get some rest." He walked out of the room. "And don't try to leave this room." He closed the door.

This terrified Mikita as she looked at the door. _I have to get out of here._ Despite her fatigue, she staggered to the door and listened for him to be out of range. She eased the door open and peeked out. As the door opened, Zoro flicked a sword down from above, shutting the door again. _Figures that she'd try to leave._

Mikita started to shake a bit in fear. _What am I going to do? I have to get out of here or… _She got an idea and soon the door was knocked down as a blur raced out the door. She didn't get very far as she stumbled and fell on her hands and knees. The tranquilizer's effects were still not completely dispelled. She quickly scrambled back to her feet and attempted to run away. Zoro landed behind her, putting a hand on her shoulder, to restrain her. "Didn't I tell you not to leave?"

Mikita spun around and faced him defensively. "Don't hurt me…" Her fearful eyes made contact with his and her breathing was faster than normal. He sighed. "I'm not going to hurt you Mikita. But I can't let you run off the ship in this condition. Both Chopper and Ero-cook would kill me if I did." He helped Mikita to her feet and started leading her back to the cabin.

Mikita was trying to resist as she stiffened her legs and slid on her heels. "Let me go! How am I supposed to believe you?" She turned and bit his arm, which brought the blood as she shoved away from him. She accidentally backed herself into a corner and she looked even more afraid. Zoro glared. "Just be quiet, and let me help you! Geez, what's made you so high strung all of a sudden?" Mikita still eyed him cautiously. "Stay back! Don't touch me! I'm not going through that again…" She never separated their eye contact as she watched him. Zoro sighed, as he stopped in front of her. "Geez you're noisy. What happened to the arrogant psychopathic bitch called Mikita?"

She growled at him for an answer in itself, bearing her fangs. She was watching his every move, and nothing he had said before that point brought her any ease. He was only making himself more of a threat in her eyes. "You won't have it your way." She scratched at him with her blood-tainted claws. Zoro drew the Wadou and pushed away the claws easily with the flat of the sword. "Geez. You want to fight like that?"

"Stop trying to hurt me and go away!" Mikita yelled. She said it with anger and yet with fright as she slid her back down the wall until she was in a sitting position on the floor. She scrunched up in the corner and hugged her knees, feeling defeated and defenseless against him. She clung so tightly to her legs that she was shaking.

Zoro kneeled down. "I'm not trying to hurt you." Mikita looked into his eyes vigilantly. She soon looked away and closed her eyes, unsure of what to do or say at that point. Zoro sighed. "Do you want me to help you out or not?" She looked at him again. She saw the truth in his eyes that he wasn't going to harm her. "You're not going to hurt me like the others…?" He shook his head. "A true swordsman keeps his word."

Mikita nodded and loosened her grip on her legs. She took a breath. "You're the first… I never expected that from you." She felt wrong for accusing him of trying to harm her, and she had also reminded herself of hurtful memories. He looked at her strangely. "The first to do what?" Mikita looked into his eyes again. "The first guy who never took advantage of his opportunity to…" She couldn't bring herself to finish her sentence as she discontinued eye contact.

Zoro sweatdropped. "I'll say it again. I'm not like Ero-cook." Mikita looked at him with an innocent, saddened gaze. "But how was I to truly know that?" She looked away from him, focusing her sight on a spot on the deck. "I thought you were all the same. It was always that way before. Practically every man I faced tried to, but they never had the chance before they died by my claws. Only one man ever succeeded in making it that far…" She shut her eyes, "and him my own father."

A flashback of that day: Mikita was wounded and paralyzed on the ground due to her father's powers. He walked around her tauntingly. "So what will you do now dollface? You can't move." He knelt down next to her. "As I said before, stop trying to fight it and give in to my power." Mikita's fear increased as she felt extreme harm and violation. She couldn't fight him. He was too strong. She had no choice but to lie there and take it, tears streaming down her face. Her breath was taken away from her and she tried so hard to move her hands, but she could only move her head and face.

He smirked down at her and continued to have his way with her, but that's when he felt a burning sensation on his butt and he shouted. He jumped up and turned to see Leona standing there with her fire whip, created from her aura. "You'd better run you bastard unless you wish to be neutered." Leona glared coldly into his eyes and he fled from the scene. Leona re-absorbed her fire energy and gasped when she saw her sister. She ran over to Mikita and held her close. "I. Will. Kill. Him." Mikita said evilly and strongly as a tear trickled down her face. Leona hugged her tighter.

As the flashback ended, Mikita was on the verge of tears just by the memory alone. "I found out that day that I could never trust them." She glared at a random area of the floor, her gaze mixed with sadness and memory. Zoro glared a bit at her. "You judged all of us by one man?" She glared right back at him. "Did you not listen to me? Do you not know how hurtful that was? You have no idea how much I desire to take a razor and shave off his dick slowly and painfully and shove it up his ass so that he will taste the cum and blood of his idiocy." Her eyes shone with her evil thoughts as she leered into his eyes.

Zoro shivered at the thought. "Very detailed..." Mikita smirked at him. "I want to see him cry. He will suffer, just as he made me suffer. I'm not the only one he's harmed. My mother, Karasu's mother, Leona's mother… So many others that I wouldn't even know of. Now he's moving on to his own daughters. He doesn't care. He'll go after anyone. He's a much higher-class demon than I am. He thinks he can get away with everything, but he's wrong. One day I will have my revenge." She looked at him and sighed. "Sorry you had to hear all of that. It must be irritating to listen to a useless psychotic bitch like me," she mocked him, though her eyes proved that she didn't mean it coldly.

Zoro sighed. "It's fine. You had to listen to my story awhile back, so it's only fair I have to listen to yours." He looked at her. "Think you're strong enough to make it back to your sisters on your own?"

"You want me to leave? I thought you were trying to make me stay." He smiled. "There's no point in holding captive, a bird that can fly." Mikita paused for a bit and then smirked. "Oh yeah? Well in that case, I'm staying in the nest just to rebel… and I think I'll make that literal too." She walked over to his resting spot in the bird's nest and laid in it, knowing that it agitated him. Zoro glared at her. "Lousy bitch..." He leaned up against the mast. "Whatever." He closed his eyes and began to fall asleep.

"Oh and Zoro…" she started as she looked at him. He looked up. "Yeah?" He was expecting something snide from her. Mikita stared at him neutrally for a moment before smiling sweetly at him. "Thanks." She curled up and closed her eyes. Zoro smirked. He closed his eyes again and fell asleep.

_Well that's the end of yet another fun chappie. YAYAYAYAYAYAY! Oh and a short note/shout-out from blackfiend:_

_Elaine, if you're reading this, you'd better remember to bring those manga on Monday!_

_My note: -stares- Okem dokey then… _


	8. Chapter 8

Zoro's eyes opened slowly. From what he could tell it was the middle of the night. A full moon shone overhead. He could hear Luffy's snores coming from the cabin. He gradually got up from the mast, sliding his swords into his belt. He walked around the ship a few times, feeling something odd. As he walked past the mast for the fourth time, he realized what it was. He was being watched. He looked around the ship for a few moments, trying to pinpoint it before looking up the mast, and seeing a shadowed figure.

Mikita jumped down in front of him. She had a charming smile on her face and a glimmer in her eyes. "Hello there handsome…" She started walking closer, reaching her hand out to touch his chest. Zoro raised an eyebrow. "Don't tell me you've eaten another fruit Mikita."

"No way baby," Mikita said passionately as she moved closer. "We're way beyond that. This is the real deal honey." She moved her face closer as if she were going to kiss him. "I just had to see you. I can't stay away." Zoro stared at Mikita. "What's gotten into you?" Mikita leaned even closer. "You know you want me."

Zoro was nervous as he tried to move away from Mikita subtly. Then in a flash he woke up. He was panting. "Damn it... that's one dream I don't want to have again..." He suddenly felt someone beside him. It was Mikita and she was cuddled up to him happily and purring, stroking his bare chest with her fingers gently.

Zoro's eyes widened again. And just as before, he woke up. This time, Mikita wasn't around him in any way, shape or form. He let out a sigh of relief, and leaned back against the mast. _Why am I having dreams like_ that_ all of a sudden?_

When Zoro's eyes were closed, someone came up in front of him. Zoro opened an eye and saw Mikita. He sweatdropped. "Please tell me this is just another dream..." Mikita smacked him. "Don't you be telling me that! This had better not be another one of those twisted dreams!" Zoro sighed, and muttered quietly. "Thank god..."

"You're telling me… Stay out of my dreams!" Zoro glared. "Then you stay out of mine!" Mikita was about to yell at him again, but she paused and stared. "Wait, why are we yelling about this?" Zoro answered frankly. "Because somehow we end up getting the other mixed up in our dreams..." He paused. "WAIT A SECOND! YOU HAVE DREAMS ABOUT ME?"

"YOU HAVE DREAMS ABOUT _ME_? YOU PERVERT!" Mikita shouted back. Zoro yelled back. "YOU'RE NOT DENYING YOU HAVE THEM ABOUT ME!"

Nami walked out of the ships cabin. "Comedy routines this early?" Mikita looked back and saw Nami. She then glared at Zoro and growled. "Pervert," she stated lowly. Zoro glared right back at her. "Bitch." Mikita raised an eyebrow and was about to get up and walk off, before she heard a familiar voice yell, "Mikita!"

"Leona?" Mikita asked as she saw her sisters approaching the Merry. Leona ran up to her and hugged her tightly, as did Karasu. "We were so worried about you," Leona said as she squished her sister with love. Mikita pushed away from them. "Get off of me! You know I hate it when you do that."

"Well we were worried about you when you didn't come back yesterday and…" Leona paused when she saw Zoro sitting near Mikita. "Ah, I see…"

"What?" Mikita asked curiously. She saw Leona's smile and she leered at her. "No, it's not like that. I was injured and—"

"Uh-huh. I'm sure you were," Leona interrupted sneakily. Mikita growled at her. "You like to twist stories around, don't you?" Leona just smiled wider, and her grin got even bigger when she saw Sanji. "San-San! We're back!" She ran to him and hugged him. Sanji hugged Leona back. "Leona-swaaan! You're back!"

Zoro glared at Mikita. "Do you think we should teach her a lesson?" Mikita smirked at Zoro and nodded.

Karasu saw Luffy and gave a big grin as she ran to him. "Let's see who can swim the fastest!" Luffy sweatdropped. "I can't swim..." Karasu stared and blinked for a moment before jumping around with victory. "Well that means I win! I win! I win! I win! I WIN! YAYAYAYAYAYAY!"

Leona was watching Sanji zoom off to the kitchens. Mikita snuck up behind her with Zoro next to her. Mikita nodded to him with a crafty smile. Zoro snuck up with Mikita behind Leona. In and instant, he reached out and grabbed Leona's arm from behind, expecting Mikita to do likewise. Mikita quickly grabbed Leona's other arm and this startled Leona. "What on earth are you two doing? Hey! Let me go!" They pulled Leona along and tossed her into the cold river below.

"AAAAAHHHH! I'M GOING TO HURT YOU MIKI!" Leona yelled as she came up to the surface. Mikita just looked over the side and pointed as she laughed. "HA! Now that's funny!"

Zoro was also laughing at it. At least until a black shoed foot collided with his ribs, knocking him over. "WHAT WAS THAT FOR ERO-COOK?" Sanji glared at him furiously. "How dare you do that to Leona-swan." He performed a rapid kicking attack, knocking Zoro back again.

Karasu looked down and saw her sister in the water and she smiled. "YAY!" She jumped down toward Leona. "No! No! Karasu no!" Leona yelled in panic as she tried to swim away, but Karasu landed right on top of Leona and submerged the both of them under water. Mikita laughed even louder in Leona's expense as she kicked her leg out and accidentally tripped Sanji.

Sanji actually used Mikita's tripping to go into a handstand and smack Zoro with another kick. Zoro wiped some blood off of his mouth. "Bastard..." He drew a katana and ran at Sanji, slashing, at the same time to cook kicked. The blows met and cancelled out. She stopped and blinked, then laughed even harder as she pointed at them. "Haha! Loser!" She held her stomach with her laughter and she was almost unable to laugh any more. "Oh my goodness… I haven't laughed this much in forever!" Leona pushed Karasu off of her in the water and glared at Mikita.

"WEEE!" Karasu exclaimed. "Throw me again!" Leona rolled her eyes and came out of the water shivering. Karasu tilted her head to the side. "Why are you shivering?" That's when the coldness hit her. "EEEEE! It's cold!" Karasu scrambled past Leona and hurried out of the water.

Now, Zoro and Sanji were in a full fight, both covered with cuts and bruises. Mikita and Leona sighed. "Sanji!" "Zoro!" Then the simultaneous, "CUT IT OUT!" Karasu was running and shivering with her teeth clicking when she ran into the guys. "Oof!" Zoro and Sanji stopped fighting but were still glaring venomously at each other.

Later that day, Mikita had gone outside to train with her Dragon Tail. "I have to sharpen my skills and master my spirit energy like my mother did." There were cans lined up in front of her, forming a line that went from her and extended on. She focused on the cans and jerked the Dragon Tail with a swift motion, placing it into the whip state. The cans were as a snake-like enemy, having its mouth facing her. She concentrated and slung the whip through the cans, driving a hole through each of them, front and back. The weapon came back to her and cut her leg, but she had at least managed to slice through all the cans. They didn't budge at all, but they were all perfectly penetrated.

She smiled with her success, until she saw her leg. "Damn." She bent down and healed her scrape as if it were no big deal and stood back up. "Well, now that I have the basics somewhat covered…" She transformed her weapon back to the sword state and focused on a nearby tree as if it were an enemy. Her eyes were filled with determination as she sliced toward it, hoping for something to escape the blade.

Nothing happened.

Mikita sweatdropped. "That's okay… maybe I didn't concentrate enough." She tried again and again, but she still didn't succeed. She became angrier with each failure and she yelled out loud. "This isn't fair!" She lowered her head and looked down, relaxing her arm with her sword in it as it aimed at the ground loosely.

Zoro was swinging his weights up on the ship. "509... 510... 511... 512..." Luffy sighed. "I'm bored... Hey! Maybe we can have some fun in the city!" Nami looked up from the map she was looking over. "That's not a bad idea Luffy."

"Yeah!" Karasu agreed. "Let's go play in the city!" Leona nodded. "Sure. Sounds like a good idea to me. What do you think San-San? Are you coming with us?" She smiled at him charmingly. Sanji nodded. "It's a great idea Nami-swan!" Robin and Chopper also agreed to go along. Zoro was still weight training. "You guys go ahead. I'll hang around back here." He made another swing with his training weights. "519..."

"SHIT!" An aggravated yell from Mikita came from outside. Zoro sighed. "What is it this time?" Mikita looked back at him. "Oh, you're still here?" He nodded. "All the others have gone off to the city."

"Oh," Mikita replied as she jerked the Dragon Tail back into a sword state. She was about to sheathe it and give up for the time being. Zoro walked away from her and started with his weights again. "521... 522..." Mikita had the tip of her sword at the sheathe, but she soon gave it another thought as she looked at Zoro.

After a bit of thought, she looked up at him. "Hey, you're a swordsman. How much do you know about the techniques and stuff?" She was secretly trying to ask him for help in training, but she didn't want to come right out and say it. He looked at her and shrugged. "A fair amount I guess." Mikita nodded and kept her sword out. She smirked and pointed it toward him. "Well then, let's see what you've got." Zoro drew the Wadou Ichimounji. "Sounds like fun," he commented with a smirk.

Mikita lowered her eyebrows with her evil smile still intact. She jerked the sword and transformed it to its whip state. _Now that I know he wouldn't kill me…_ She ran at him with a typically fast pace and slashed at him, trying to wrap it around him. Zoro jumped up to dodge it and came down with a slash at her shoulder. Mikita hurriedly made the Dragon Tail return to its sword state and blocked his attack horizontally. While he was focused more toward her sword at the time, she kicked at him and the claws in her toes shot into his leg. Zoro ignored this injury and quickly drew his Yubashiri. He scissored in with both swords and Mikita stuck her sword vertically in between them. "I'm adapting to your attacks, but are you fully aware of mine?" She smirked, and since her toe claws were still embedded within his leg, she curled them so they would dig deeper into the skin and she yanked her leg back, pulling his leg with it.

Zoro turned this into an advantage by raising his knee to smash into her gut. He followed it up with a slash on either side of her body. His knee struck her stomach and she coughed as she stepped back a bit. One of his swords cut her left side slightly as well and she felt the sting as she growled and winced. She didn't even bother to heal her wound yet as she bolted to him and sank her teeth into his arm, yanking violently at it and tearing away at the skin. As she did this, she dug her claws into his other arm to keep him from attacking with it. Zoro attempted to knee her in the stomach again, and then head butt her.

Mikita stabbed through Zoro's shoulder from behind with her Dragon Tail. She had still been holding it and she had it behind him the entire time. She kept her teeth in his arm as she looked up into his eyes, his blood seeping through her teeth. A smirk was visible on her face, especially through her eyes.

Zoro ignored the pain and kneed her again. "Is this it?" He wrenched both arms out of her grasp and slashed at her hip and ribs. Mikita growled with being kneed in the stomach again. She kept the Dragon Tail in his shoulder while extending it to the whip state. This meant many sharp links of sword on a string going through his shoulder from one side to the other. She jumped to the side to avoid his slashes, though she did get injured in the chest, and ripped the Dragon Tail out of his shoulder. Each link ripped off a chunk of flesh and increased in pain and blood loss. Mikita smirked. "Don't think I'm out of tricks just yet."

Zoro got a fair distance back. "Same here. Takanami!" He sent two powerful gusts of wind at her. Mikita blocked them as well as she could with her Dragon Tail, but she was blown back a bit. She kept her footing as she slid across the ground, her hands trembling as she tried to hold the sword in place. She bore her fangs at him in anger, but she smirked as she looked over at the cans that she had been practicing with. They had been filled with flammable liquids before she had stolen them for practice. She threw her flame claws at them and they created a small explosion near him, also causing a thick patch of smoke around them as the cans remained on fire. Mikita dashed behind him and slashed at him from behind with both of her flaming claws. However, she was holding her breath, so she wouldn't be able to last as long in the thick patch of smoke, so she had to attack quickly and get out.

A clanging sound of metal on metal rang out, as Zoro parried the attack. He jumped out over the smoke, with his Santouryu in effect. He came down with rapid slashes. Mikita could hardly see the attacks coming, so she also leaped out of the smoke. She was cut up a bit, but she didn't mind it. As she jumped out, she latched onto Zoro's leg in midair and slung him through the air. She landed out of the cloud of smoke and unsheathed her Dragon Tail once more.

Zoro landed on his feet and struck from a distance. "Hyaku Hachi Ponu Hou!" He sent three large spiraling blades of air at Mikita. She slashed with her Dragon Tail as they came toward her, but still nothing happened. The energy still didn't come out as desired. "Well shit," Mikita stated as she hurried and put up a barrier around her to block the winds. She couldn't get the barrier to work in its fullest effects in time, so it was broken through and she was blown back. She stood there and glared at him for a moment, soon giving up and sighing as she sheathed her Dragon Tail. On her face was a look of disappointment as she looked at him. "Well… I tried, but I guess there is only one way to wield the Dragon Tail to its fullest potential…" Zoro still held a defensive stance. "And that is?"

Mikita looked into his eyes. "To fall in love."

Zoro sweatdropped. "Ah..." Mikita's eyes showed a hint of sadness as she looked away. "Of course I wouldn't ask you to… I mean you've already got your own dream to follow. Why should you have to assist me in accomplishing mine? Heh, you probably wouldn't want to be with me anyway. I'm quite unsure myself. I'm not giving up on my dream, but…" She clenched her hands into fists. "But I seem to be getting nowhere… and that's my only hope." Mikita glanced at Zoro with eyes of uncertainty and even nervousness before she turned away. "I guess it would have been best if that fruit had never entered our lives." She started to walk away.

Zoro looked after her. "Where are you going now?" Mikita glanced back at him. "Somewhere where I won't pressure you anymore." She went back inside the Merry. He sighed. "Jeez..." He ignored his injuries completely and started training again.

Mikita was in the kitchens stealing some food to eat. She had a sneaky smirk on her face. "Heh, he fell for my words. Now that's funny. Hmm…" She thought of a sneaky little idea and carved something into the wall. "Zoro… was… here. They'll be dense enough to believe it." Mikita snickered and took her food to the bird's nest to eat it.

Off in the city, the Strawhats were marveling at its sights. Usopp was staring at almost every shop they passed. Nami was also looking excited. "I think we should maybe split up for a bit."

"Okay," Leona agreed. "I'm going to go in here and see what kinds of things are in here." She walked into one of the stores. Karasu ran towards a Weapon Shop. "I'm going to go play with the pointy things!" Nami and Robin walked off in the same direction. Sanji headed for a cooking shop, and Usopp walked off looking for ingredients to use in his newest bullets. Leaving Luffy to be... well... Luffy. His first action was to pull himself up to the nearest rooftop. "Hey! They have a Marine base here too! That's cool!" And of course, he started running straight for the base.

"Yay pointy things!" Karasu exclaimed as she grabbed a handful of ninja stars, luckily not cutting her hands at all. She casually stuck a few in her pocket and walked around looking for other things.

Leona walked around an antique shop and found a mirror to look into. She shrugged and walked on to see other things. Her eyes were soon set on a pair of bracelets.

Luffy stood outside the Marine base. "Wow! It's so big!" Several marines were staring at him. "It's... it's Strawhat Luffy! Arrest him!" They came at Luffy with their sabers raised. Luffy dealt with them easily. Then he heard a familiar voice from behind. "So. This is where I find you, Strawhat Luffy..." Luffy turned around to see Smoker standing right behind him.

The next instant Luffy had shot up a building to dodge Smokers 'White Spark'. Luffy started running across the rooftops with Smoker in pursuit, having turned much of his body into smoke to chase Luffy. Luffy spun around quickly. "Gomu Gomu no Piston!" He shot his fist at Smoker but it only passed through his smoke-like body harmlessly. "Shit!" Luffy was smashed in the mouth by Smokers' fist and skidded across the rooftop. He got back up and kept running. "Why do you have to be here?" He went running through the street where Sanji and Usopp were shopping. "Sanji! Usopp! We're leaving!" They turned around to stare at Luffy as Smoker pursued him.

Leona came out of the shop that she was in and saw what was happening. "Who is that?" Usopp ran over to her. "His name's Smoker. He's a big time Marine. Luffy can't beat him!"

"Ooh…" Leona said in worry. "Uhh… Karasu! We're—!" Karasu ran out of the Weapon Shop giggling. "Hee hee hee hee hee…" Leona sweatdropped as she watched her run by. _She must have stolen something again._

Luffy kept running from Smoker, but the Marine was right behind him, occasionally striking at him with whip-like blows. Usopp was running after them. "We need to help Luffy! And who better to do it than I? Captain Usopp!"

Karasu threw a ninja star at the Marine. "WEEEEE!" Leona looked at her. "You stole ninja stars?" Karasu smirked and took out a bottle. "And I stole this 'Nitro Glycerin'… whatever that is." Leona's eyes went wide. "Oh great…"

The ninja star simply passed through smoker without causing him any damage. He paused at chasing Luffy and pointed his arm at Karasu. His arm turned to smoke and shot at her surprisingly fast.

Karasu looked down. "Oh look! A quarter!" She bent down to get it and the arm went right over her head, leaving her unharmed. As she stood back up with the quarter, Leona looked at her strangely. "What?" Karasu asked as she put the quarter in her pocket.

Smoker growled. "White Spark!" He sent a massive wave of smoke across the ground, which was as high as some of the small buildings to blast Karasu back.

Karasu felt a strange feeling in her nose as she wiggled it. "Oh no… AAAAAAAHHHHHHH-CHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Her sneeze was high pitched and long, and since she was half dragon, the power of it blasted her up high into the air. Smoker's attack passed just below her and she landed on her butt. "Ow…" she paused and sniffed to clear her nose. Leona blinked. "She's one of the luckiest people alive…"

Smoker glared. "I've had enough of you mocking me!" He turned his entire body into smoke and flew at Karasu. Sanji's eyes widened. "Karasu-chwan! Run!" Karasu was unaware of this as she watched a bird in the sky. "Hey birdie! I can fly too! Watch!" She transformed into her dragon form and flew off into the skies after the bird.

"This is almost too much to believe," Leona said as she blinked and watched Karasu. Smoker reformed and glared. "What a waste of time... and she made me lose Strawhat..." He ran off searching for Luffy. Usopp looked around nervously. "Maybe we should head back to the Merry..." Off in the city, Nami and Robin were already doing so. Leona called for Karasu and left for the ship as well.

Back at the Merry, Mikita was picking her teeth with her claw after eating as much food as her stomach would hold. Zoro noticed the crew returning to the ship. "Oh. They're back." Mikita sensed her sisters and the others returning in a hurry to the Merry, so she walked outside with a chicken leg in her hand. Apparently she had room for more after all.

Nami climbed aboard the ship. Luffy and the rest of the crew were right behind her. They looked at the ship. "The Marines know that we're here now... we can't stay here much longer." Mikita blinked and looked at her chicken leg, handing it to Zoro. "You did it." She then walked out to ask her sisters what was going on.

Zoro raised an eyebrow. "What the-" He turned and listened to what Nami was saying. "I think we'll have to leave soon. Otherwise the Marines will be on top of us with an entire fleet! We need to leave by tomorrow morning at the earliest." Zoro felt a surge of shock going through his system. They were leaving the island tomorrow?

Mikita had asked Leona what was going on and she seemed surprised as well. "They're leaving tomorrow?" She looked up at Zoro.

"Yes. They have to or they will be found," Leona answered. Zoro seemed surprised by the news as well. Almost instinctively he turned and looked at Luffy. "It was you wasn't it?"

Mikita looked away and seemed saddened by this fact. She turned away from Leona so that she wouldn't see her expression. "Mikita?" Leona asked. Mikita walked away from her. "It's nothing." Karasu stood next to Leona, knowing what was going through Mikita's mind. She chose not to say anything however as she stood there next to her sister.

Now Sanji suddenly was realizing it was Luffy's fault as well. He and Zoro loomed over him, threateningly.

"Sanji…" Leona said softly as she approached him. "Is this really happening?" Sanji turned away from a rather beat up Luffy and nodded sadly. "It appears so, Leona-swan..." Leona looked down sadly. "Oh…" Karasu looked at Luffy. "You're an idiot… like me! YAYAYAYAYAY!" Leona sighed at her sister and Mikita was nowhere to be seen. Sanji went back to beating up Luffy. Zoro climbed up to the bird's nest.

Mikita sat alone in the forest that night, thinking about things. _He's leaving… They are leaving tomorrow… I guess Leona's vision was truly wrong…_

Dawn came all too quickly. Before long the Merry was pulling up the anchor and was about to set sail. Leona was standing speechless in front of Sanji. She hesitated and finally hugged him tight. "I'll miss you…" Sanji hugged Leona back. "I'll miss you Leona-swan. And Karasu-chwan. And Mikita-sama."

Karasu was hitting Luffy with a stick. "It's your fault that I'm going to miss you! You retard!" Luffy grinned at Karasu. "Don't worry, I'll be back!"

Mikita walked up by the side of the ship, looking up at Zoro. Zoro leaned over the edge of the bird's nest. "I guess this is goodbye then, eh, bitch?" Mikita looked at him with the expression of indifference. "I guess so." She jumped up there with him. "So, does this mean I might not ever see your sorry ass again?" Zoro shrugged. "Don't know. With Luffy as our captain, we might end up back here in a day. Or, we might never come back." Mikita nodded, still with the same expression of indifference. "I see… Well in the event that you don't return…"

She grabbed his shirt and pulled him in to lock their lips in a kiss. She kept them joined together for a couple seconds before pulling away. "I just wanted to see if, maybe, I felt something… but I guess I was wrong." She turned away from him and looked back at him through the corner of her eye. "Goodbye Zoro." She jumped down from the ship, most likely having confused the swordsman with her actions.

Zoro stared at Mikita as she left. Sanji on the other hand, having noticed this, had his jaw dropped. A quiet shaking of the ship as it began to move broke this momentarily. Nami looked off. "It's time to go." As the ship began to leave, the three sisters walked off toward their residence in the forest. Mikita walked behind Leona and Karasu. She looked back at the ship as it was leaving, a saddened expression apparent behind her eyes. She made herself look away and walk on.

Zoro watched the island as it started to leave sight. _Off we go again, I guess..._ Usopp was watching too. "Wow, we really left just in time! Look!" Several marine ships were now where their ship had been docked. However, this was no longer of any concern to them. Zoro looked down at Luffy. "So, now where are we going captain?" Luffy shrugged. "I don't know." Zoro sweatdropped. "Of course..."

----------------

_Will the Strawhat crew ever return, or is it goodbye forever? _


	9. Chapter 9

Leona walked along toward the forest with a gloomy expression. "I was really starting to like San-San…"

"Good for you," Mikita stated rudely as she walked behind Leona and Karasu. Leona looked back. "Aren't you going to miss Zoro at all?" Mikita smirked. "For torture maybe." When they reached their point in the forest, Leona turned around and looked at Mikita. "I don't get you. As much time as you spent with that swordsman, you didn't grow any closer to him at all?"

"Nope," Mikita said as she unsheathed her Dragon Tail. Leona sighed. "What are you doing now?" Mikita gave a swift jerk to her weapon's handle. "I'm training. What does it look like?" Leona rolled her eyes and walked over to where Karasu was making a campfire once again with her firepowers. She looked at Karasu and asked, "Do you know anything about Mikita's thoughts right now?" Karasu was poking the fire with a stick. "Shove. Shove. Shove." She then looked at Leona. "Huh? Were you talking to me?" Leona sighed. "Never mind."

"Oh you wanted me to tell you about Mikita's thoughts and stuff…" Karasu said as she looked at the end of her stick and twirled it around. Leona looked at Karasu expectantly. "Yeah. What do you know about Mikita's thoughts?" Karasu shrugged. "Do I look like I pay attention?" She went right back to poking the fire with her stick. "Shove. Shove. Poke. Shove. Shove. STAB!" Leona smacked her hand onto her forehead, and then watched Mikita train.

Karasu looked up at Leona while she was turned away. _Leona didn't even see Mikita kiss Zoro, so she doesn't know that Mikita's lying about her feelings right now. Of course, Miki wouldn't want me to say anything to Leona about it, so I'll just stick to my seemingly stupid ways and keep a silent disposition. Maybe Miki will tell her the truth someday… or not. I don't really know. Man I want some steak right now. I'm going to miss that pervert and his cooking skills, as sad as that sounds. _

The Merry sailed out into the open sea. It had been sailing for a while, but so far nothing interesting had happened. Until...

"Oi, Nami! Those storm clouds look bad!" Nami looked over at Usopp as he called her name and looked out at the direction he was pointing. Her eyes widened. "How could they have come up on us so quickly?" She tried to sail the Merry quickly from the path of the storm, but before long, it overtook the Merry.

Mikita sat on the docks, looking out into the ocean. Her hair blew from a growing breeze and the water rippled before her, just as her thoughts in mind. She moved a bit of hair out of her face as she sat there just looking out into the water. Leona came up behind her and saw her. Mikita sensed this and smelled Leona's scent. "What are you doing out here?" Leona asked her.

"Nothing," Mikita replied, still turned away from Leona and looking out into the water. "It's just… nice out here. That's all." Leona nodded and looked out at the water as well. "You're right. It is." Karasu was running around behind them chasing after nothing, just running around in circles. "WEEEEEEEEE!" Leona looked back at her and giggled.

"Who am I?" Mikita asked. Leona turned to her surprised. "What do you mean by that?" Mikita watched a ripple of water pass. "Sometimes I wonder if I am who I think I am." Leona blinked at her, still not quite understanding. "You're Mikita. I know that much." Mikita looked aside a bit, keeping a neutral gaze. "Do I have a purpose… a dream… a destiny?" Leona's eyes widened. "Of course you do. Everyone does. Everyone has something they want to be... something they want to accomplish."

"That's just it. I don't know what or who I'm meant to be anymore Leona," Mikita replied. "I don't even know what I'm meant to accomplish. I'm just… here." She looked at Leona and blinked to moisten her eyes. Leona opened her mouth to say something, but she sighed instead. "Mikita… You'll figure it out. One day, you'll see. Why, all of your answers might just wash up on shore."

The Merry was tossed and turned by the waves. Even though Nami was a superb navigator she was having extreme difficulty keeping the Merry on course, and to avoid the jagged rocks in the area. Then Choppers scream of terror and Luffy's cry of delight made her realize the danger behind. She turned around and stared as a massive typhoon ripped through the storm behind them. She knew that even as fast as the Merry went, the typhoon was even faster.

The typhoon caught up to the Merry, catching it and drawing it in, the crew of the Merry hurried indoors, but Zoro and Nami were caught before they could get in and hurled off the ship, into the dark waters.

At the docks, Karasu threw sand at Leona's back, making her mad and causing her to chase her around. "I'll get you for that! You got sand in my pants!" Karasu just laughed and ran on.

Mikita continued to look out at the water. _All my answers will just wash up on shore… Ha! Who does she think she is? She is not the master of problem solving, though she thinks she's a queen._ Mikita looked out and saw something in the water. "What the…? Hey Leona! There's something in the water!" Mikita stood up and looked at what was in the water. Leona and Karasu ran over as well. Mikita's eyes widened when she thought she recognized what they were. "Don't tell me..."

Zoro and Nami washed up on shore in front of Mikita, unconscious from the way they had been battered around by the water. Mikita gasped. "Zoro…" She pulled him up on shore and Leona pulled Nami ashore. Karasu stood there blinking, wondering what to do. Mikita bit her lower lip and looked at Zoro, poking him in the arm. "Uhh… hello…?" Leona sweatdropped. "That's not going to work you know."

Karasu ran over to Zoro and knelt down on the other side of him. "I know! I'll do mouth-to-mouth resuscitation on the green-haired cutie!" Karasu leaned down and blew into the swordsman's mouth while holding his nose. Zoro had woken up just in time to see Karasu giving him mouth to mouth. He gave a loud yell and acted as though he'd been shocked.

Mikita's eyes widened and she shoved Karasu away once she saw him stirring. "Stop it! You'll scare him you retard!" Mikita looked at him curiously from above. The sun reflected on her hair as it leaned to one side. It was like one of those Little Mermaid moments, without the singing. She blinked her aqua colored eyes and just looked at him, not saying a word.

Zoro stared up at her. "How the hell did I end up back here?" Mikita looked surprised and nervous, as she seemed to turn slightly red. "Yeah, what _are_ you doing back here?" Karasu giggled at Mikita, knowing her thoughts and why she was embarrassed, and Mikita glared at her. Nami was also becoming conscious and was amazed they'd ended back here. "The currents in that storm must have carried us all the way back." Nami got up and quickly explained to them what had happened. As if to indicate her point, she pointed out at the sea at the small dark spot in the distance that was the storm. Leona listened closely and Karasu goofed around in the background, but Mikita sat there tuning everyone else out as she appeared nervous and in deep thought once again.

Zoro sighed. "But, once the storm clears up they'll probably get back." Nami sighed. "I'm not on the ship remember, and Luffy's going to be in charge." Zoro sweatdropped. "Well, looks like we're going to be here for a long time." Mikita appeared even more nervous as she jumped up. "Well then, I'm just going to go… uhh, train for a while. Yeah." She hurried off into a forest area and Leona looked at her strangely. "What's gotten into her?" Karasu was in the background poking a ladybug. "Shove. Shove. Shove."

Nami sighed. "I can't believe I might be stuck here. Well... I _could_ always steal a boat..." Zoro sighed and walked off after Mikita. Nami looked at him curiously. "Where are you going?" Zoro shrugged. "To train." Leona blinked and watched him walk off. "That's odd… Sometimes he and Mikita have too much in common." Karasu looked up from the ladybug with a smile. "Yep." She looked back down and the ladybug flew off. "Hey! Get back here!" She ran off chasing the bug.

Mikita wasn't training as she said she was going to do, but instead she was leaned up against a tree resting alone with her thoughts. _I can't believe he's back. What do I say to him? Maybe I can just avoid him and he won't ask me a thing about what happened…_ This soon became almost impossible to do because Zoro walked right behind her at that moment. Mikita sensed his presence and jumped up, turning around to face him. She looked nervous at first, but she brought back her rudeness as she asked, "What are you doing out here?" Zoro shrugged. "Looking for weights. That'll do." He walked past Mikita to a massive boulder.

Mikita sighed within, relieved that he didn't mention anything about that kiss. She sat back down and closed her eyes, trying to avoid bringing it up or showing that she had it on her mind so strongly, worried about it. Zoro lifted up the boulder and started doing weight lifts with it. "1... 2... 3..." Mikita glared at him for a moment and then looked away. Zoro looked over at her. "What's pissed you off?"

"What's halted you from counting?" Mikita stated rudely as she stood up and turned away from him, about to walk off. Zoro suddenly remembered something. "By the way... what the hell was with that kiss you gave me before we left?" Mikita froze in her tracks and her face turned red. She was aware that she was blushing and nervous, so she remained with her back to him. "It was nothing. I wanted to see if I felt anything or not so… What does it matter anyway?" This screwed over Zoro's training as he chucked the boulder aside. "What do you mean by that?"

"So what if I felt something or not. What would it matter to you?" He sweatdropped. "That should be an answer unto itself." Mikita looked at him and leered. "You wouldn't care what I felt. You hate me too much to care. Besides, why should I feel anything when it comes to someone like you?" He glared. "It concerns me if it's about me."

"Whatever," Mikita said rudely as she turned away from him again. She was seriously avoiding telling him what she felt. Zoro kept on going straight to the point. "So, what was the result?" Mikita turned around and faced him in aggravation as she sighed. "Didn't I tell you that I felt nothing?" It was apparent in her eyes that she wasn't being truthful. Zoro didn't pick up on her eyes though and shrugged. "Alright then. Jeez all you had to do was say so." Mikita looked down in disappointment that the subject was turned away that quickly, so she looked at him again and smirked. "What did _you_ feel from it?"

Zoro looked at her. "Shock, surprise, confusion. Anything in specific?" Mikita kept her smirk as she moved closer. "You know… did you feel any sort of attraction between us?" Zoro looked at her and shrugged. "I don't count us as enemies any more. Closer perhaps to rivals, and friends." Mikita was surprised as she blinked with wide eyes. "You did feel something, didn't you?"

"As I said, it was enough to take you out of my list of enemies." Mikita gave him a flat look. "You have an odd way of stating what you feel…" She then remembered what she told him and looked away. She felt disappointed in herself. "Of course, I'm not one to talk." Zoro smirked. "Eh, what's going to happen will happen." Mikita looked into his eyes questioningly. Zoro simply shrugged at her and went back to the boulder starting his weight lifting again.

Mikita felt as if a huge weight was on her chest and that she needed to get it off. She took a deep breath. "Zoro… I lied." She hesitated and looked at him. Zoro looked at her curiously. "Hmm?" Mikita was too nervous to finish what she was saying so she turned away and tried to walk off. "It's nothing…" Zoro watched her leaving. He kept lifting the boulder up and down. Mikita walked on and held in a nervous breath. _Why didn't I tell him? I should have said something. I've never felt like this before. _

As Mikita left, Zoro let out a sigh of relief. _I don't understand what I'm feeling... But if I don't tell her about my feelings maybe I can leave the island before it interferes with our lives._ Suddenly, Mikita ran back toward him screaming until she ran into him, not watching where she was going. "AAAHHHHHHH! OOF!" She looked up at him. "Oh… heh. My bad." She moved away and looked behind her cautiously.

Fortunately for both of them, as Mikita ran into Zoro she knocked him back, causing the boulder he was lifting to miss them. "What the hell is it?" Mikita looked at him and gulped. "Oh, it was just a… a spider." She smiled nervously through her teeth. "What? I almost ran into its web, and it was as tall as me!" Zoro sweatdropped. "I NEARLY KILLED US BOTH! AND YOU'RE SAYING IT WAS ONLY A SPIDER?"

Mikita sighed and looked a bit hurt. "Yeah. Just go ahead and laugh at me because of my stupid phobia. It suits you." He shrugged. "I won't laugh." Mikita looked at him a bit surprised. "Oh… Okay." She looked as if she wanted to say something else, but she just hesitated. Her ears went back a little and she looked like she was pressuring herself to say something in particular. "Zoro…" She stopped herself and tried to think of how to word her thoughts. She then smirked. _Maybe since I won't say it…_ "Do you love me?" _He will._

Zoro's eyes went wide. "What...?" His voice was hesitant, as if he was unsure of how to answer it. Mikita just continued to smile sneakily at him. "Well…?" Zoro sweatdropped. "I... don't know... how can I tell?" Mikita smiled and raised an eyebrow. "Maybe this will help you decide."

She leaned in and locked their lips in a romantic kiss. How he responded to the kiss would determine what he felt, as well as how she felt herself. Zoro's eyes widened again and then he reacted instinctively, kissing back. When Mikita felt him reciprocating his feelings, she knew what he felt. She also knew what she felt inside for sure as she kept it going a bit longer before pulling away. "And now I know I feel something… just as I did then." She smiled and looked into his eyes charmingly. She was relieved that she revealed what she had truly felt for him. Zoro smiled at her. "Yeah..." Mikita blushed a little and looked to the side, avoiding eye contact. She moved her fingers around one another nervously, not knowing what else to do or say at the moment.

Zoro sweatdropped. "We won't let the others in on this will we?" Mikita shook her head. "No way. I'm not letting Leona get the pride of knowing she was right." Zoro nodded. "So, it's agreed? We'll be bickering and arguing whenever the others are around, but not to the point it becomes suspicious." Mikita smirked. "Sounds like fun, but since we're not around anyone at the moment…" She leaned closer to kiss him again, but then she heard Leona's voice. "I think they're over here." Mikita paused and looked toward the direction that Leona's voice was coming from.

Leona, Karasu, and Nami were walking toward them and Mikita knew she had to act fast. She shoved him and faked a glare. "You are the biggest dumbass I've ever seen! You know that? If you say that to me again, I'll kill your ass!" Zoro glared. "Shut up! I'll kill you!"

"I'd like to see you try!" Mikita snapped back. Leona walked up to them with a sigh. "What are you two arguing about now?" Mikita just leered at Leona. "None of your business!" Karasu read her sister's mind and appeared shocked, but she just regained a normal, calm expression, as she remained silent. She tried not to smile, and Mikita could tell that Karasu knew the truth, so she put a finger over her own mouth to signal to Karasu not to say anything. Karasu nodded and Leona looked at her. Mikita winked at Zoro and tried not to laugh, and when Leona turned back to her she regained a normal face and looked at her flatly. "What?"

"Nothing," Leona said as she turned and walked in the other direction. "Come on. You two stop fighting and come back with us. We can't have you killing each other out here." Karasu smiled. "Trust me, they won't…" Leona looked at her and she froze. "…Because we're going to watch them and make sure they don't." Leona nodded. "Yeah. Good point." As Leona turned away, Karasu sighed with relief and smiled at Mikita, who was also on the verge of laughter.

Zoro's eye was twitching as he looked at Karasu. He suddenly remembered... "HEY! I never gave you a proper thank you for trying to give me mouth to mouth..." He cracked his knuckles threateningly. Mikita looked at him and silenced him as she whispered lowly to him. "Ssshh… She's keeping our secret. She can read minds, so she knows the truth. Don't push it around her or she'll let the cat out of the bag."

Karasu looked back and smirked. "Mmm hmm…" She heard all of what Mikita said in her mind before she even said it. Zoro glared. "Blackmail... how disgraceful." Karasu just smiled sneakily and turned back around. Mikita sweatdropped. Leona looked back at them curiously. "Something wrong?" Mikita quickly shook her head. "No."

Off on an island far off, a familiar ship had been thrown inland. Usopp was dutifully trying to repair the damage the Typhoon had done, with Chopper to help out. Robin had headed off onto the island in search of artifacts. That left Sanji and Luffy staring off on the beach. "I wonder where Zoro is. He wasn't with us on the ship." Sanji looked like he was about to cry. "Why can't Nami-swan be here... why couldn't it have been you captain?"

During the next couple weeks, Mikita and Zoro kept their relationship well hidden from the others. In one incident, Mikita and Zoro walked along behind the others. Mikita hesitated, but she reached out and took hold of his hand. This caused her to blush. Zoro smiled and allowed his fingers to become laced around hers. Once Leona started to look back at them, Mikita jerked her hand away and looked in the opposite direction, trying not to be obvious at all. Zoro did likewise and Leona just shrugged, walking on with the others. Karasu giggled and turned back around.

On another occasion, Mikita and Zoro sat near each other on the docks while they thought they were alone. Mikita smiled and leaned closer to him, resting her head on his shoulder. Zoro leaned his head on hers as they sat there looking out at the water together. Mikita heard a sound and she hurriedly moved away from him and shoved him into the cold water. When she looked back to see what had made that noise behind her, thinking it was Leona, she saw that it was only a fox. Zoro poked his head up out of the water with a glare directed toward Mikita. She looked at him nervously and sweatdropped.

As time went on, they had fun fooling the others and were becoming quite attached to each other. Despite their disputes and arguments, they always enjoyed sneaking off and being alone together to reveal how they really felt.

One day in the forest, Mikita laughed and moved closer to Zoro, about to kiss him. He smiled and moved closer to her as they nearly kissed, but Mikita then noticed Leona walking by talking to Nami about something. Mikita had to think of something quickly, so she grabbed a nearby large piece of hollow log and smashed it over Zoro's head. It got stuck over his face and Leona stopped talking to look at them strangely. Mikita smiled an odd smile as they walked by. Leona shook her head and continued talking to Nami as they disappeared from sight. Mikita looked at Zoro with her hand over her mouth as if to say 'oops' and removed the log slowly. This revealed the glaring swordsman's face and Mikita bit her forefinger nervously. She dropped the stump and patted him on the head. He looked at her flatly and knocked her hand away, and this made her giggle timidly. Hiding their feelings from the others wasn't as easy as they thought it would be, yet they managed to hide it narrowly each time.

Meanwhile on the Merry, Sanji was in the kitchens fixing something to eat when he looked at the wall questioningly. "Zoro was here?"

"I'm off to train," Mikita said one day as she stood up and started off. She looked at Zoro and winked, signaling for him to say the same and follow her. Zoro nodded. "I guess I may as well too..." He walked off behind Mikita. Leona watched them leave in confusion. "They're always going off at the same time, then they end up trying to kill each other." She sighed. "Karasu, could you—?" "I'm on it," Karasu interrupted as she walked off after Mikita and Zoro. Leona sighed. "Mind readers…"

Mikita stood there in front of Zoro in the forest. "Hey… there's something I've been thinking about a lot…" She appeared kind of sad. Zoro looked at her. "Yeah?" Mikita looked at him. "Your friends. They'll be back for you eventually…" He nodded. "Yeah. What about it?"

"Well… you made an oath… You'll be leaving, won't you?" He looked at her. "You could always come with us." Mikita laughed a bit. "Yeah, being stuck on a ship with that pervert… That's going to work out beautifully." Her voice was filled with sarcasm. She then remembered something and smiled. "At least I'm not interfering with your dream… I was kind of worried about that." Zoro's eyes widened. "Hey, nothing can interfere with that. There's gonna be delays, and obstacles, but all I focus on is the end result."

"Oh… I was just remembering when you said that you would be tempted to commit suicide if you had to be stuck with me…" He sweatdropped. "Not anymore." Mikita smiled. "I know… You know, I never thought I'd be like this… especially since that incident with my father." She relaxed her hand over his. "But I guess things change and life moves on…" She then smirked. "Of course, I just wouldn't be me if I didn't insult you every hour on the hour. By the way, while I'm at it, you're due for an insult you perverted retard." Zoro grinned. "Whatever, you psychotic bitch."

Mikita smirked. "If I was a psychotic bitch, would I be doing this?" She leaned in and kissed him. Zoro smiled and kissed back. "Maybe not." Mikita smiled and leaned on him sweetly, but then she heard, "All right. That's enough out of you two lovebirds." Mikita quickly sat up to find that it was only Karasu, so this put her mind at ease. "Phew… It's only you. What are you doing out here?"

"Leona sent me to make sure that you two won't 'kill' each other," Karasu stated, while she used finger gestures with the word 'kill.' Karasu looked at Mikita's head for a moment and walked closer. "You've got a flea Miki." She then zapped her tongue to Mikita's head and cut the flea in half.

"OW!" Mikita yelled. "Did you have to do that?" Karasu smiled. "Yep." She then took a seat near a tree and stared at them. "Don't mind me. Carry on." Mikita sweatdropped. Zoro looked at Karasu and sweatdropped. "I think the moments ruined."

Karasu looked at them. "Oh well fine! Be that way!" She turned her back to them and crossed her arms. "NOW proceed!" Mikita gave her a flat look. "No." Karasu turned and glared at her. "Fine then." She then smiled. "Hey! I could use a foot massage…" She turned her sight to Zoro. Zoro glared at her. "Why would I do that?" Karasu smirked. "Because I'm too cute… plus some secrets are better left a secret, if you catch my drift." Zoro glared at her. "You're blackmailing me?" Karasu looked at him with surprise. "Man you're slow!" Mikita just shook her head in disappointment. "Just get it over with Zoro so she'll shut up." Karasu took off her boots and socks, wiggling her toes in his face.

Zoro walked over to Karasu, grumbling about what she was forcing him to do and started to work on her feet like she asked. Karasu glared at him with a slight smirk. "Oh are you grumbling? There will be no grumbling while massaging your master's feet!" She then transformed into her large dragon state, where her feet were slightly bigger than him. "Have fun. Oh yeah, and watch out for the stuff in between my toes. Some of the particles are bigger than your head." She smirked with her torture and blackmail method.

He glared. "You are a manipulative bitch you know." He kept on going though. He did _not_ want Leona to find out what was going on between himself and Mikita. Karasu just grinned. "Thank you." Mikita cringed at the sights of what was between Karasu's toes. "Eww, there's a dead guy's arm in there…" The dead arm fell on Zoro's head and Mikita smacked her hand over her mouth, trying not to laugh. "And it just fell on Zoro's head…" Karasu became impatient with Zoro. "Scrub harder slave! What do you think I am? A PANSY?"

Zoro threw the arm off of him and backed up a bit, drawing his swords. "I've got it. Tatsu..." He shifted into his stance. "Maki!" He spun quickly, sending blades of air to the work for him. The attack did a good job. Zoro also noticed, with a slight smirk that some of the blades penetrated Karasu's scales and drew blood from moderate sized wounds. Karasu didn't notice the wounds very much, for she was too busy flopping around and laughing, causing the ground to rumble and shake. "HAHAHAHAHAHA!" Karasu rolled around on the ground so far that she rolled over Mikita like a steamroller. Mikita was practically flattened out and stuck to her back, glaring at Zoro. Zoro looked at Mikita. "What?" Karasu looked around her. "Mikita?" Mikita pushed herself off of Karasu's back and dusted herself off. "Great job Sherlock."

"Well at least I didn't roll over on the human," Karasu laughed. Mikita giggled as well. "Yeah really." She then looked at Zoro and cleared her throat, momentarily forgetting that he was human. "Heh…" Zoro raised an eyebrow. "I could probably take it better than you did Mikita." Mikita raised an eyebrow back. "Is that so?" Karasu looked at them and blinked. "Uh oh…" He nodded. "Yes. I don't think any physical injury you've received would come even close to the ones I have."

Karasu backed away slowly. "I'm just going to… go find Sanji and get something to eat." She took off and left the two of them to argue. Mikita glared at Zoro. "You couldn't even begin to comprehend the shit that I've been through." Zoro glared at her. "I think I probably could."

Mikita kept her angry stare focused on him. "Oh really? You're not like me, so what would you know?" Zoro glared. "What the hell would you know about me?" Mikita growled. "That's it! What the hell are you getting so mad at me about? What started all this?" Zoro glared. "Karasu."

"No you dumbass! I meant why are you snapping at me?" Zoro glared. "I'm a little pissed at the way you said the word 'human'. The way you said it, made it seem like we're below you!" Mikita leered at him. "I didn't say anything about that! Karasu did. I was talking about being a woman, and how you are a man. You couldn't possibly know what I have to endure, although you can wonder and guess on it." She seemed a bit hurt as her eyes made contact with his. "I never could put you down. You could kill me in a second if you wanted to. There's no getting past that… but the fact that you could go and say something like that…" She glared angrily and sadly as she turned away. "I was wrong for ever thinking that I could find any attraction toward you." She then proceeded to walk away. "All you do is judge me, just like all the others of your kind."

Zoro got up and glared at her. "What? Mikita..." Mikita just continued to walk away from him. _That's why I have learned not to trust humans. They're all the same._ Zoro watched her going. "Fine. If that's the way you choose to go." He got up and started walking in the other direction.


	10. Chapter 10

In the distance, not too far off from the island, the small form of the Merry became slightly visible. Leona looked out from the docks. "Hey! They made it!" She saw Karasu flying in her dragon form in front of the Merry. "What the…?" Karasu landed and transformed back into her semi-human form. "They got lost so I lead them back. Stupid humans… stupid Miki." That's when it hit her. "Oh no… I was sent to keep them from arguing, not to cause one. Uhh… be right back!" She ran off through the forest and Leona raised an eyebrow.

Mikita was walking along her path, angry about the incident that happened between her and Zoro. As she walked on, a man that held a gun at her halted her in her tracks. She stopped and stared at him with an emotionless gaze as if she didn't care for her life. The sounds of the gunshot reached the swordsman. Zoro flinched as he heard the gunshot. He kept on walking then. _Mikita's strong enough to take care of herself. One guy with a gun isn't anything too tough for her._

Zoro was indeed correct. Mikita handled the man with no problem. She didn't allow herself to be taken down that easily. The man lie there dead while Mikita walked on her way to wherever she was going.

Karasu was running through the forest when she ran into Zoro. "Watch where you're going!" That's when it occurred to her. "Hey! I'm supposed to find you! Man I'm good!" Zoro kept on walking. "That's nice. Congratulations."

Leona ran up to Sanji the moment she was able to see him, embracing him in a tight hug. "SANJI! You're back!" High-pitched screaming runs in the family apparently. Mikita walked in on the scene and saw that the Merry had returned. "Good. Now that stupid perverted retard will be away from me forever." Leona looked at her sister. "Mikita, what's wrong?"

"Nothing. I'm just overjoyed that these losers are going to be gone soon." Mikita was clearly angry by her expression and Leona could tell. "Hey, wasn't Karasu with you and Zoro? Where are Karasu and Zoro?" Mikita shrugged. "Don't know. Don't care."

Suddenly, they noticed Karasu flying above them in her dragon form carrying a very angry Zoro with her back feet. "Hey guys! Don't worry! I got him!" She then accidentally dropped him. "Oops… maybe not." He was headed straight for Mikita. Mikita looked up and saw him falling toward her. "Oh shit…"

Zoro landed on top of Mikita and then got back up. "YOU BITCH! I'LL KILL YOU!" He seemed to completely disregard the fact that the Merry had arrived as he ran around underneath Karasu with a sword drawn, shooting blades of air at her. Sanji surprisingly was turning a blind eye to this as he hugged Leona back. "I've missed you Leona-swan!"

Mikita rubbed her head and glared at Zoro, but then she laughed as she watched him chase Karasu around vainly. Karasu was flying around in the air looking down at the swordsman. She was unaffected by the attacks. They were mere tools in helping her fly. "I don't need any help flying! Jeez! You're a retard!" Zoro kept striking with air blades, which were even sharper than a sword, and cut into Karasu's body, drawing blood. Karasu felt the cuts and raised a large dragon eyebrow at him. "Jeez you're desperate to help someone that's made your life a living hell huh?" She looked down in the ocean and saw a duck. "Oh look! A DUCK!" She then dive-bombed into the water and splashed a large tsunami onto the shore. The large wave even made the Merry rise and lower again, plus it splashed everybody on shore.

Luffy was dragged into the water. "AAAAAHHHHH!" He waved and splashed around helplessly as he started to get pulled under. Zoro sweatdropped. "You baka!" He dove into the water and dragged Luffy out. Mikita rolled her eyes and left to go back into the forest. She didn't want to be anywhere near the swordsman.

Karasu got out of the water and saw all the glaring, wet faces. "…Sorry." When she saw what she did to Luffy, her eyes went wide in worry. "LUFFY!" She ran to him and hugged him tight. "I'M SO SORRY!" She was unaware that she was screaming high-pitched in his ear, as usual. Luffy almost jumped. "Geez! Not so loud!" He was ironically yelling back in Karasu's ear. Karasu then screamed louder. "DON'T YOU YELL AT ME WHILE I'M APOLOGIZING!"

Mikita was walking through the forest complaining to herself. "Stupid swordsman. I could care less if he leaves…" Her eyes showed otherwise, but she shook it off and glared at the ground in front of her.

"Well what a misfortune for you," a familiar voice said from behind her. She turned around to find that she was once again facing her father. She gave him an evil stare as she put a hand on the Dragon Tail's handle. "Tsuyoku…" He just laughed. "Can't you call me daddy, or father?" Mikita growled. "Not a chance." She unsheathed her sword and kept her stare focused on him.

Tsuyoku looked at her in amusement. "You're going to try that again, are you? Why, you've already lost your inspiration and will to live, so why bother?" Mikita's stare grew colder. "Don't even start with me you bastard." She slashed at him and a powerful beam of spiritual energy flew at him with incredible speed. "Wha—!" He yelled before being smashed with the attack. He struggled back up and looked at her in surprise. "How can you still do that?" Mikita didn't answer him, but merely continued to stand ready for the fight.

Zoro walked over to Karasu and yanked her away from Luffy dragging her into some bushes. "So... I need to thank you for the way you dragged me over here…and for blackmailing me…and for dropping me on Mikita. And hitting me with a miniature tidal wave!" Karasu simply grinned. "You're welcome." She closed her eyes and then opened them back with an angry stare. "Now stop being mad at Mikita! Be mad at me!" Zoro started to crack his knuckles. "Who do you think I was talking to?" His eyes had an ominous gleam to them.

"I know I'm the one to blame for all this, but Mikita isn't! Why are you going to take it out on her if it was my fault in the first place?" Karasu yelled as she got up in his face. "Now, get out there and find her! Apologize to her or I'll KILL YA!" She put emphasis on the last two words of her sentence. High-pitched emphasis.

Zoro sweatdropped. "I don't think you could. And by the way... here's my thanks." He sent a fist at Karasu's face. Considering his enormous strength, it was liable to hurt quite a bit, and send Karasu flying. Karasu merely pointed at his fist with her pointer finger and halted it in midair. "You don't think I could kill you? I killed millions by accident. Imagine what I could do on purpose…" She smiled evilly and leered into his eyes. "Plus, there's always that sweet blackmail… plus I could improvise. I'm good at that. So what'll it be? Are you going to do as I told you or not?"

Zoro glared at her. "Then why don't I let you forget...?" He drew the Sandai Kitetsu and held in backwards so it wouldn't kill Karasu. Karasu just rolled her eyes. "Okay then. Option three. I wanted to avoid this one… eh what am I saying? No I didn't." She smirked and yelled, "SANJI! ZORO'S TOUCHING ME IN INAPPROPRIATE PLACES!"

Sanji let out a furious yell. "WHAT WAS THAT KARASU-CHWAN? How dare you!" He jumped behind the bushes striking Zoro with a kick. He got back up and they started to fight... again. It was becoming increasingly obvious that all Karasu had managed to do, was slow down Zoro from going after Mikita even more. Karasu read this in Zoro's mind and gulped. "Oops…" It was even worse when she noticed that Leona had gotten in on the feud. "DON'T YOU TOUCH MY LITTLE SISTER!" Karasu sweatdropped. _I have to do something…_ "Okay that's enough punishment for now!" She used her telekinesis to separate them and then she threw Zoro up into the air toward the forest. "GO FIND MIKITA!"

Mikita was in a battle with Tsuyoku as she slashed at him again, sending another blast of energy at him. He put up a barrier to block this one and smirked. "Tough luck. You can fool me once, but you cannot fool me twice." Mikita stood a good distance from him, ready to attack him again, but then…

Zoro came crashing down from the sky... right on top of Tsuyoku. Mikita blinked and stared. Then she became angry as she yanked Zoro up by the shirt. "YOU INTERRUPTED ME!" Tsuyoku stood up and rubbed his head. He stared and wondered what was going on, and then he just decided to leave as he shrugged and walked off. _I'm too lazy to fight two people right now…_

Mikita noticed that Tsuyoku was gone and she glared at Zoro, punching him hard across the face. "YOU IDIOT! YOU MADE HIM RUN AWAY!" Zoro glared at her. "A true fighter stays focused on his or her opponent at all times, no matter what distractions there are."

"Don't tell me how to fight! Are you calling me a not good fighter-er whatever? I'M TOO MAD TO THINK! SHUT UP!" Zoro glared at her. "You shut up!" Mikita just glared at him, yet she appeared kind of sad. "Fine. I see that you've only come to yell at me and ridicule me some more. I'm out of here." She sheathed her Dragon Tail and began to walk away. Zoro nodded and sheathed the katana he was still holding. "Maybe it's for the best that I'm leaving now." He started walking off.

"Well… good." Mikita mumbled angrily as she kept walking on, yet she wanted deep inside to stop and say something else, but she didn't. Zoro kept on walking. It wasn't as bad as usual because he could actually hear what was going on all the way from the beach.

Luffy jumped. "Wait, Karasu! Let's see who can yell the loudest!" At this, the Strawhat pirates ran for cover. Karasu smiled. "OKAY!" That was pretty loud in itself. She then noticed Zoro returning and ran over to him, strangling him. "DIDN'T YOU APOLOGIZE TO MIKI?" At this, her voice became really high-pitched like a super sonic shock wave. Zoro looked at Karasu. "Apologize for what?" Sanji glared daggers at him. "Zoro! What did you do to Mikita-sama?"

Leona leaped on Zoro and attacked him, strangling him and cutting him up with her claw-like nails. "NOW YOU TOUCHED MY OTHER SISTER? YOU PERVERT!" Luffy grinned. "That looks like fun!" He dove in and started fighting as well, followed by Chopper in his Heavy point. With Sanji, Luffy, Leona, and Chopper you'd think that would be plenty of torture for one pirate…

"Huh?" Karasu asked as she popped out of her dazed state. She then glared at Zoro and jumped into the dog pile, attacking Zoro. "HOW COULD YOU ASK SUCH A RETARDED QUESTION YOU FAGGOT?"

By the end of it, Zoro was out cold, but then again, so were Chopper and Sanji. Luffy had ended up getting a little too eccentric. Karasu was cheering for Luffy. "WAY TO GO LUFFY! HIGH FIVE!" She forgot that the contest was probably over by now.

Mikita returned to where the others were and saw that Zoro, Chopper, and Sanji had been knocked out. "What the…?" Leona was still slapping the unconscious Zoro across the face over and over again. "It's all your fault that Mikita is probably…!" She then looked up and saw Mikita, which made her smile happily as she ran to embrace her. "MIKI! You're all right!" Mikita just raised an eyebrow. "Yeah?"

Luffy high-fived back. **"ALL RIGHT!" **Karasu noticed that he was yelling louder than her and she stared at him competitively. **"OH YEAH! EEEEEEEEEEEE!"** She yelled as high-pitched as she could before her voice gave out on her and all that came out was air. Luffy covered his ears. "OH YEAH? **_TRY THIS_!** Karasu tried it, but nothing happened. She mouthed the words 'damn it' and glared at Luffy. Leona sighed. "Peace and quiet…" Luffy started laughing. "I win!" Karasu used her telekinesis to hold Luffy over the water. She gave him the 'don't make me do it' look as she glared.

Luffy's arms stretched to grab onto some trees. Robin stared in disbelief. "You'd kill someone because they beat you at a competition?" Karasu just grinned and nodded, but then she thought about it and shook her head no. Then she had a confused, questioning look on her face.

Zoro wearily got up in the background. "So. When are we leaving?" Leona looked at Sanji sadly, helping him up. "Yes, when are you leaving?" They looked at Nami who shrugged. "We've been on this island for awhile... I'm thinking of leaving anytime." Mikita listened to this and wasn't sure of what to say or do. She glanced at Zoro and soon turned away, once again walking into the forest.

In about half an hour, the ship was loaded and ready. Zoro was in the crow's nest. Nami was looking at her maps to chart a course, and the others were saying their goodbyes.

"I'm going to miss you San-San," Leona said as she hugged Sanji tight. Karasu was hugging Luffy and screaming in his ear. Leona looked at her and sweatdropped. "How can you scream already? It's only been half and hour…"

"I am not as weak as a human," Karasu said tauntingly as she smirked at Luffy. "At least I win at that." She still held a grudge from the earlier competition.

Mikita was in the forest, sitting upon a rock and looking out at the river. _He's leaving soon… What does it matter to me? He's just an insensitive perverted retard. He will never understand me. I guess it was never meant to be_. She looked down and watched a fish swim by in the water. _I guess I really am incapable of love_. She put a hand on the Dragon Tail and her eyes seemed so sad and full of memory.

Luffy grinned. "But I'm not a normal human. I'm a rubber man!" The others began to board the ship, Sanji giving Leona one last hug. Karasu smiled and nodded. "Yeah I guess that is true." In her eyes, he could probably tell that she'd miss him. Leona let go of Sanji and backed away sadly. "Bye." Karasu was waving happily. "SEE YA!" Mikita was still in the forest.

Sanji climbed onto the ship along with Luffy. They pulled up anchor and started to move. Zoro sat up, looking as they started to move. _Well... I will miss her... but she's the one who started it! Not me! It's her fault we're parting on these terms!_

As the ship began to sail away, Mikita ran back on the scene and watched it leave. She just watched it leave silently as the wind blew through her hair. _I was too late…_ She closed her eyes and lowered her head. Karasu looked at her and read her mind, knowing what she really wanted to do. She thought about it for a minute and a smile came across her face as she transformed into her dragon form. "Hop on!"

Zoro saw a massive form on the beach. "Huh. I wonder what Karasu's doing n-" His eyes widened as he saw Karasu flying towards them. "HI!" Karasu cheered from above at everyone. She hadn't been paying attention like she should have been and she made Leona and Mikita fall down toward the Merry. Leona landed on Sanji and Mikita landed on Zoro. Karasu sweatdropped. "Oops… Oh well. Join the crowd." She transformed back into her semi-human state and fell on Luffy. "WEEEEE!" Luffy actually indented like a trampoline. Karasu bounced a few times laughing happily. "YAY!" Sanji immediately moved into hugging Leona.

Mikita looked into Zoro's eyes and she was speechless. After what had happened between them, she wasn't sure of what to say to him. She looked at him apologetically and looked as if she wanted to say something. Zoro simply stared at Mikita. "Well... I'm... sorry if I offended you earlier..." Mikita nodded. "So am I. It just didn't make much sense to let it all end over one stupid argument." She then gave him a sweet smile. She then remembered that they weren't alone, so an argument had to take place in order for their secret to be kept. Mikita smirked and stood up, then forced her fake glare. "Oh great. I can't believe I have to be stuck here with you people." Zoro sweatdropped. "Then why'd you follow us?" Mikita glared. "Because Karasu made me! She just forced me onto her back and took off before I had a say in it!"

Karasu went along with it and smirked. "You're welcome." Leona stood up and shook her head. "We have to watch those two. This could be disastrous…" Karasu smiled widely. "So were staying with them?" Leona sweatdropped. "That's up to them…" Sanji and Luffy immediately started asking them to stay. Leona smiled. "Well, looks like we're staying…if it's not going to be too irritating to you Mikita." Mikita scoffed and crossed her arms. "Whatever." She looked at Zoro and snuck in a wink.

"YAY!" Karasu said as she jumped up and down. "I GET TO SLEEP WITH LUFFY!" This made everyone sweatdrop and stare at her. She read their minds and glared at them. "PERVERTS! I didn't mean it like that! Jeez!" Zoro sweatdropped. Luffy and Chopper looked around oddly, not seeming to get what everyone was talking about. Leona looked over at Sanji and blushed, turning her head away quickly.

Mikita noticed Leona and raised an eyebrow at her. "It's a wonder you haven't slept with Sanji already." Mikita was merely joking around, but oddly Leona started whistling and walking away nervously. Mikita's eyes flew open. "WHAT THE HELL? Don't tell me you…! LEONA!" Leona turned to Mikita. "What? It was… kind of a spur of the moment, you know? I mean, what was I supposed to say? No?" Mikita gave her a flat look. "Nah," she stated sarcastically. Karasu heard Leona's thoughts and blinked. _Damn, she's more perverted than Sanji… maybe… Eww, bad images. Baaaaaaaad images…_

Zoro stared at Sanji. "Tell me you didn't." Nami was staring at Leona. "Tell me you didn't." All eyes were set on Sanji and Leona, who sweatdropped simultaneously. Sanji looked at Zoro. "Well... she's the one who suggested it..." Zoro stared. "You really are a pervert." Mikita shook her head in disbelief. "This is just too much information for me."

Later that night, most of the crew was sleeping. Karasu was sleeping practically on top of Luffy and twitching, Sanji and Leona were God knows where, and Mikita was outside near the railing of the boat, looking out at the dark water. "I'll get used to it eventually…" Zoro looked at Mikita from where he was resting on at the base of the mast. "You should get some sleep you know." Mikita looked at him. "I would if I could." Zoro raised an eyebrow. "Why can't you?" Mikita sighed. "Motion sickness. Curse my sensitive stomach…" Zoro shrugged. "You'll get used to it." Mikita nodded. "Yeah. You're right." She held onto the railing and looked out at the water again, seeing how it rippled gently and slowly.

Zoro looked at Mikita. "Geez... I still can't believe Ero-cook..." Mikita laughed a bit quietly. "Yeah I know. They are so strange." She thought about it for a moment and smirked, walking closer to Zoro. "Say, what would you say if I asked you to sleep with me?" Her eyes shone with charm in the moonlight. He shrugged. "If you asked? I'd probably say yes. But I _wouldn't_ do anything weird. I'm very different from the idiot who's with your sister."

Mikita raised an eyebrow. "You're thinking pervertedly aren't you? Of course, I figured you would take that one pervertedly. That's the first thing that comes to a man's mind when a girl asks that question... but what if she really meant that she wanted someone there to keep her warm. Someone to cuddle with her and make her feel loved. Someone to be by her side to protect her through the night." She was hinting toward her own feelings with this statement as she sat down next to him.

Zoro nodded. "Yeah. Sure. I'd say yes to that." Mikita smiled. "That's what I like about you. You know the simplest ways to make a girl happy." She leaned in and locked their lips in a passionate kiss. Zoro kissed back just as passionately, putting an arm around Mikita. She purred happily as she slid both arms around to his back. Her tail was even swaying gently with contentment.

Leona comes out of the kitchens with a smile on her face. She walked along until she saw Zoro and Mikita. This surprised her as she stared with wide eyes. _That doesn't look like hatred…_ Her jaw dropped as she noticed what was going on. _I can't believe this… _She was about to storm out there and yell at them, but then she paused and smirked. _If that's the way you want it Miki…_ She shrugged and walked back toward the kitchens.

Zoro slid both of his arms around Mikita's slim waist, drawing her towards him. Mikita soon felt their tongues brushing together and she made a low moaning sound. Zoro's eyes widened and then went back to being closed as he deepened the kiss. Mikita realized how open she was being and became nervous as she pulled away. "Heh, uhh… time to sleep now… Yeah." She was also avoiding eye contact and slightly blushing. Zoro smiled at her. "Yeah. Sure. Hope you sleep well."

Mikita tuned out her thoughts and laid her head in his lap. "Okay. Good night." She closed her eyes and wrapped her tail around her legs. Zoro smiled. "Night Mikita." Mikita heard him say that and smiled.

The next morning, Mikita opened her eyes to find the entire ship's occupants staring at her and Zoro. Zoro looked at them. "What?" Mikita sat up and looked at him flatly. "Isn't it obvious?" She sighed. "I guess word is out now…" She glared at Karasu and Karasu flailed her arms, and then pointed to Leona. "Not me this time." _Aww, there goes my slaves and all I had in store for them. _

Leona walked up to them with a big smile. "Mikita, you kept this from me? Aww, but look at you two! You're so CUTE together!" When she said the word 'cute', she slammed their heads together. Mikita glared at her. "Ow… You see, this is exactly why I didn't want you to know." Leona looked at her with a baffled expression. "Why? I only wanted you to be happy…" She then saw a dolphin in the water and shouted, "HEY! GUESS WHAT MISTER DOLPHIN!" She then jumped into the water after the dolphin and Mikita sweatdropped. "Oh boy. Here we go… Word gets around the entire world with her around." Mikita sighed and rubbed her head.

"Do you have a headache?" Karasu yelled in an annoying high-pitched tone. Mikita glared at her. "This is your fault somehow." Karasu shook her head. "No. You know, if you two weren't tongue-tying last night, she never would have found out. Plus you were lying in his lap out in the middle of the ship ya know. It's kinda obvious." Karasu rolled her eyes and Mikita sweatdropped. "I was comfortable," she mumbled.

Sanji actually was speechless at Zoro. He didn't say anything. It actually wasn't so bad for him. Either they were like Luffy who was too stupid to figure things out, like Robin and Nami, who didn't care, or like Sanji who were actually just plain amazed. Mikita thought about it and shrugged. "Okay whatever. Don't have to hide it anymore, but it was just fun while it lasted." She smirked.

Leona practically flew back up to the ship after rapidly and quickly swimming for her life. "STUPID MISSES SHARK! I JUST WANTED TO TELL YOU THE GOOD NEWS! JEEZ!" Mikita just shook her head. "Stupid."

Zoro sweatdropped. "For you maybe. Well, at least I don't have to worry about Karasu blackmailing me." Mikita smiled sneakily at Zoro. "Yeah, but now you have to deal with Sanji…" She patted him on the head. "Good luck with that." She got up and stretched, only to be met by Leona smiling creepily at her again. Mikita raised an eyebrow. "What?" Leona still grinned. "Told you so." Mikita shrugged. "Whatever." Leona's jaw dropped. "What! WHY DON'T YOU CARE?"

"Because, what does it matter to be embarrassed if you already know?" Mikita replied. Leona blinked. "Oh… Okay then." She then smiled that expectant smile. "So, did you mate him yet?" Mikita's eyes shot open. "HELL NO! I'm not a pervert like you Leona! Jeez! Not everyone jumps to that kind of stuff like you." Leona flushed a little. "Leave me alone! It was Sanji's idea!" Mikita just laughed. "Sure…"

"It was both their ideas," Karasu chimed in with a smile. "Oh no. Bad images again," she said, still with her smile to hide her creeped-out feelings inside.

Zoro shrugged. "Whatever." He fell asleep again, completely ignoring Sanji who still had his jaw dropping. Sanji turned and slowly walked away without saying anything.

"BREAKFAST TIME!" Karasu yelled out excitedly. Mikita smirked. "You're right it is. ALL RIGHT PERVERT! BRING US OUR FOOD!" Little did they know that they might not necessarily want to eat the food from that kitchen ever again…

Sanji quickly whipped up some meals and handed them out to everyone, of course serving the women first. His attitude towards Mikita didn't change though, even though he knew she was with Zoro. Mikita took her meal and sat next to Zoro. "Well at least now I don't have to keep my distance from you." She smiled and handed him a muffin. "Want one? It's strawberry." Zoro shrugged. "Yeah, sure, thanks." He accepted it from her and started eating it. Mikita took another muffin from her tray and began eating it. She fiddled with her muffin due to a lingering thought on her mind. "Zoro… am I different?" Zoro looked at her. "You mean from when I met you? Yeah. You're different." Mikita nodded. "Oh… okay." She seemed like that didn't quite answer her question as she dazed out at her muffin.

Zoro looked around after he'd finished his muffin. "Well... I'm not going to get strong enough to beat Mihawk just by sitting around." He got up and found his weights in the cabin, taking them out and stacking them all on a massive pole. Then he started using it to practice his sword swing. Mikita smiled and watched him. _He's so determined. His mind is set on his goal. Maybe I can bring myself to do this… just maybe… I can't chance another close call with Tsuyoku. I know he'll follow us… and I have to be ready._ She looked at Zoro with admiration and yet she looked unsure of herself. Her internal debate reflected on the outside.

Karasu read her sister's thoughts and went over to her, sitting next to her. "Hard for you to decide?" Mikita looked at her and nodded. "You should really stop invading my thoughts. I have a—"

"I know. I know. You have a voice. Blah. Blah. Blah." Karasu interrupted as she smirked. Mikita glared at her. "That's irritating." Karasu smiled. "I know."

Zoro kept swinging with the weighted pole. "20... 21..." Luffy looked at Karasu. "Hey! Karasu! Want to see who can eat the most?" Karasu smiled at Luffy. "Sure! Hang on a sec!" She looked at Mikita again, putting a hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry. You'll figure it out. Plus, Leona is going to talk to you about it later. I found the plotting in her thoughts." Mikita sighed. "Great," she stated sarcastically. Karasu got up and went over to Luffy, leaving Mikita with her thoughts. _Just what I needed, to listen to her big mouth nagging me about it._


	11. Chapter 11

Over the next few days, things on the Merry were quite lively. Karasu and Luffy kept things interesting by frequently challenging each other to mindless competitions. Zoro's relationship with Mikita was steadily growing, as was Sanji's relationship with Leona. Finally, they started to near another island. They were running low on supplies so Nami had made the choice to land on it.

"YAY!" Karasu exclaimed as she looked out at the beach. Mikita looked out at it and allowed the wind to blow through her hair freely as she observed the sights. "This seems like an interesting place." The Merry landed and the crew started to get off the ship. Karasu leaped off of the ship. "RACE YOU LUFFY!" Mikita walked off the ship alongside Zoro. Luffy's arms stretched to a log on the shore and snapped him over. "Okay!" He started running alongside Karasu.

Sanji was looking around with a large grin. "I wonder what recipes I could make with the stuff on this island..." Robin and Usopp were also getting off. "I wonder if I can find any ancient ruins here, maybe..." Usopp was also looking around. "I bet I could find some new ammunition here!" Nami smiled. "I think we should all meet back here in two hours. That should be enough time to get everything done." Leona nodded. "Okay." They all seemed to go their own ways, except Mikita stayed behind with Zoro. "So, where are you going to go?" Zoro shrugged. "I dunno. There's nothing I really want to do here." Mikita smiled and took him by the hand. "I'm sure we can figure out something. Let's go this way." She led him toward a mountain-like place that was near a waterfall.

Just a little ways off shore, a shadowed figure watched the Strawhats. It slowly started to follow Luffy and Karasu. Karasu looked back and sensed something strange. "Hey Luffy, I think someone's following us." She became aware and on guard as she stood there defensively and cautiously.

The shadowed figure then walked out of the shadows. A familiar face looked out at Luffy and the pirate started laughing hysterically. "Hey Ace!" Karasu let down her guard. "Oh. You know this guy Luffy?" Luffy grinned. "Of course! Ace is my brother!" The member of the whitebeard pirates waved at Luffy and Karasu. He, noticeably, wasn't wearing a shirt, so every detail of his body was noticeable. He had the tattoo of the Whitebeard pirates on his back.

"Ah I see," Karasu said as she studied Ace. "In that case…" She scurried over to him and stroked his abs. "Had to do it." She then smiled a big smile. Ace stared at Karasu. "Oh? Well, it's fi-" He suddenly broke off and shut his eyes, falling asleep standing up. Karasu looked at him surprised. "Wow! He's just like m-" She then fell asleep and flopped onto her side.

Mikita and Zoro found a forest-like area on the mountain that they were exploring. Mikita smirked and ran from Zoro playfully. Zoro ran behind her, grinning back at her.

Off in the forest, Sanji was busy picking fruits off trees, and asking Leona if she knew about them. Leona smiled and nodded as she handed him a mango.

Mikita continued to run and laugh, until she fell down a hillside that was hidden by leaves from trees. Zoro stood at the top of the hill, laughing a bit, and then following Mikita down.

Mikita was struck with awe as she observed the shady atmosphere that she had accidentally slid into. There was water running down a gentle stream on the hillside that surrounded most of the area around them. The sun shining through the leaves above them made a beautiful sight as Mikita took a look around her. "Wow… this is just too awesome." Zoro looked around, amazed as well. "Wow..." Mikita went over to the stream and squatted down near it, cupping her hands and getting some water in her hands. "Natural spring water," she said, then she took a drink of it and smiled. "Mmmm…" Zoro sweatdropped. "Let's just hope that this stuff isn't enchanted..." Mikita snickered. "It's not." She tried to get some of the water in her hands to hand it to him. "Here, have some…" It spilled out of her hands and she tried to get some more. "Okay here…" She dropped the water yet again and she was starting to get agitated as she got another scoop of water in her hands. She tossed it at Zoro's face. "HERE!" She then paused and laughed. "Oops… my bad. I slung it too hard. I always seem to do things like that."

Zoro's face was dripping and he leered and Mikita. "I'll just... get my own." He bent down cupped some of the water in his hands and drank it. "Hey, this is pretty good." Mikita smiled. "Told you." She sat back against the rock behind her and went into deep thought. She remembered the conversation that she and Leona had the other night, the one that she wanted to avoid.

Flashback: Leona was talking to Mikita. "You love this guy right?" Mikita looked down and thought about it. "I think I do…" Leona looked at her waiting for a better answer. Mikita looked at her. "I guess I do…" Leona sighed. "You're getting there. Okay, well if you do, then don't you want him to stay with you forever?" Mikita just stared at Leona. "Am I supposed to know the answer to these questions?" Leona tapped her fingers. "Mikita I'm serious. You two have grown rather close…"

"So have you and Sanji," Mikita interrupted with a smirk. "Too close," she added. Leona glared at her and then sighed. "I know, and maybe I'm not the brightest person when it comes to relationships."

"Ya think?" Mikita stated rudely. Leona leered at her. "Mikita, this isn't about me. It's about you. I'm trying to help you." Mikita crossed her legs. "And all you're succeeding in is irritating me." She smirked and Leona was getting a little aggravated. "Mikita…" Mikita looked at her and stopped talking, allowing her to speak of her useless nonsense, as she had put it in her own mind. "Miki, I want you to be happy. You have a dream to fulfill, and I know you haven't given up on it." Mikita took in her words seriously this time as she thought about her dream to be like her mother. "Now, if you really want to harness your truest powers, and strengthen your bond with Zoro…" Mikita glared at her. "You think sex is the solution to everything don't you?"

"Mikita! Ugh! Just… shut up and listen to me!" Mikita shook her head. "Nah. I don't think I will." Mikita got up and walked over to a tree, unsheathing her Dragon Tail. Leona looked at her. "What are you doing?" Mikita extended her Dragon Tail. "Practicing." Leona sighed. "Okay. Have it your way, but one day you won't be able to hold back your feelings." Leona smiled and Mikita leered back at her. "You're a pervert." She then slashed at the tree, trying to ignore Leona.

Back from the long flashback, Mikita sat there in a daze and staring at the water. Zoro looked at Mikita. "You look like something's bothering you." Mikita snapped out of her train of thought and looked up at him. "Oh… It's nothing." She went back to staring at the water. Zoro shrugged and drank some more of the water. "You think we should take some of this back to the ship? It's pretty good and we don't want to run low on water." Mikita looked at him. "Sure. Sounds all right. As long as they don't drink too much of it at once. It tends to give you diarrhea." Mikita laughed a bit and then went back to her thoughts again. She couldn't seem to keep them away. She then had a memory of the day that she was little with her mother.

Another flashback: Mikita was only five years old, and this was the last year that she had seen her mother. Mikita held her mother's sword, while in its sheath, and swung it around lightly. "I'm going to grow up to be just like you mommy!" Mikita exclaimed with her tiny voice. Her mother laughed a little and held onto the sword, kneeling down in front of her daughter. "I know you will one day sweet heart. One day you will." Mikita smiled a big smile. "One day I'll be able to use your sword and I'll be just like you! I will make you proud mommy. I promise." She went back to swinging the sword around happily.

Now we exit this flashback to go into another one: Mikita was sitting with Leona near a campfire. "Hey Leona, did you ever know my mom?" Leona looked at her. "Yes actually. She was a wonderful person. She could wield the Dragon Tail with such grace and power because she had so much kindness in her heart." Mikita smiled. "Yeah…" Leona sat next to her sister. "There was one thing that she had always wanted though." Mikita looked at her questioningly. "What's that?"

"A trustworthy mate," Leona replied. She looked kind of sad as she spoke. "You see, your mother thought that she had found that in Tsuyoku, but she was soon deceived. He only wanted to seduce her into taking her power… plus he's just nasty, evil, and perverted." This saddened Mikita as she looked at Leona. "Did mother ever get to…?" Leona frowned. "No. Your mother was very powerful with the Dragon Tail, but having a mate to protect and hold onto would have strengthened her spiritual will and enable her a higher-class demon. It was always a wolf's tradition to mark the one that she wishes to spend her life with, and then allow him to love her. Of course Tsuyoku wouldn't allow this, so he kept her from marking him and ended up messing up her tribe's tradition. This was hard for your mother to deal with, but she never let it get to her. She had a kind heart and a strong will."

"Two things I don't possess… and probably never will," Mikita replied. Leona smiled warmly at her. "You will. One day." Mikita looked at her. "That's what my mom used to tell me. She always said 'one day' this. 'One day' that, but did that one day ever happen for me?" Mikita got up and walked off. "Mikita…" Leona said as she watched her walk off, her mind full of memory and thought.

Now, back from all flashbacks, Mikita looked at the Dragon Tail and ran a hand across it in thought. _Mom…_ Zoro looked at the Dragon tail, examining it for a moment. "That really is a good sword. How old is it?" Mikita looked at him. "I'm not sure how old it is, but it is a good sword. My mother's mother won a battle with a dragon that was terrorizing her tribe and she made a sword out of the dragon's tail, hence the name Dragon Tail." Zoro nodded. "I see..."

"Yeah, it was handed down to my mother so that she could carry on the tradition. She was very good at using the weapon, but she could have been more powerful if she had a…" Mikita stopped herself and didn't finish her sentence as she put the Dragon Tail away. Zoro looked at her. "Go on..." Mikita looked at him. "Okay… So, do you love me?" Zoro looked at her. "What?" He paused. "Yeah. I do." Mikita moved closer to him. "Do you want to be with me forever?"

Zoro looked at her. "...If I could." He suddenly was thinking about something. He was, as Karasu had pointed out, a human. No doubt Mikita would probably live a lot longer than he would. Maybe even three to four times as long.

Mikita smiled at him with a different sort of charm. "What if I told you that you can?" He looked at her. "Huh?" Mikita smiled and leaned closer to him. "But first, you have to prove it to me. Show me that you want to be with me forever." She moved so close to him that her lips were almost in contact with his. There was a passionate gleam in her eyes, something that she hardly ever acquired.

Zoro didn't hesitate to bring their lips together in a passionate kiss. Mikita reciprocated the kiss as she slid her hand up to his shoulder. She took her claws and used them to slide his shirt off of his shoulder. She traced her claw over his skin forming the wolf tribe's symbol on his shoulder near his neck. Mikita then leaned and licked the symbol that she had made on him, turning the red tracings light blue in color. She then looked into his eyes. "Now you can live as long as I do. That is no longer an issue here." Her lips moved closer to his, nearly reuniting their passion. She was so close to kissing him again, but she hesitated and moved away as she looked down. "But the tribe's traditions will once again have to be broken."

Zoro looked at her. "Huh? What do you mean by that?" Mikita looked up at him. "My tribe's tradition is that once you mark your mate, you have to allow him to love you… and I just can't bring myself to do that. Not now." Zoro looked at her and nodded. "Fine by me. Come on, we'll keep the others waiting." Mikita smiled and stood up. "I'm glad you understand. Maybe you're not _as_ much of a perverted retard as I thought you were." She smirked.

Zoro sweatdropped. "Good to hear you're finally coming around." Mikita looked back at him with her sneaky smile, whacking him in the face with her tail. "You're still a perverted retard. Don't think that's going to change. I mean jeez! You're a man for crying out loud." She then proceeded up the hill to leave the spot that they had found. Zoro followed after her. "You can shut up about that anytime now..."

"Nope," Mikita replied with a smirk as she walked on. "How dare you forget about your hourly insults." Sanji finally noticed the two of them coming out of the forest. Zoro looked over until he noticed a new, but familiar figure. "What's Ace doing here?" The other pirate shrugged. "Looking around. I thought I might be able to pick up some clues on Blackbeard here but..." Karasu randomly glomped Ace. "He found me! Now I get to sleep in the middle of both him and Luffy! YAY!" Leona laughed. "You're a strange one to cheat on your boyfriend." Karasu raised an eyebrow. "Boyfriend? I don't have a boyfriend. Come on boys!" She took Luffy and Ace by the arm as they walked on toward the Merry. Mikita sweatdropped. "He's not in our crew silly…"

Ace sweatdropped along with Luffy. Zoro and Sanji stared, and then turned to face each other. "Has everyone on this ship gone insane?" They said in perfect unison. Leona laughed a little. "I guess Karasu's stupidity is contagious." Leona looked at Zoro and noticed that his shirt was hanging lower on his shoulder, which revealed the light blue marking that Mikita had made on his shoulder. She grinned largely and creepily as she got up in Mikita's face. "Miki! I can't believe you did it!" Mikita raised her eyebrow and pushed Leona away. "Did what? And would you stop smiling like that? It's psychotic!" Leona simply smiled and whispered, "You mated Zoro." Mikita's eyes widened. "Wait what? NO! Not yet!" Everyone was staring at her, so she moved Leona away to talk to her privately.

"Leona… keep it quiet will ya?" Mikita said as she stared her sister in the eye. Leona jumped excitedly. "I can't help it! I might be an aunt!" Mikita shook her head. "That… didn't happen." Leona looked at her surprised and shocked. "What do you mean? He's marked, so he is your mate. What about the tradition?" Mikita shrugged. "What about it? I wasn't ready for that, so I just… delayed the tradition. That's all." Leona sighed. "You're hopeless Mikita. Well at least he's officially your mate now… I think." Mikita just stared at her. " Whatever."

Karasu pops in with Ace and Luffy. "What are you talking about?" Mikita stared flatly at Karasu. "That is none of your concern." Karasu grinned. "Yes it is. I just read your mind." Mikita glared. "I hate that." Karasu screamed, "I'M NOT A 'THAT'!" She leaned and cried on Ace. "SHE CALLED ME A 'THAT'! HIT HER! BEAT HER UP!" Mikita pointed to Leona. "She did it." She then casually walked off and Karasu actually believed her. "HOW COULD YOU LEONA?" Leona looked at her in shock. "WHAT?"

Ace looked at Karasu. "I would but-" He broke off as he fell asleep again, causing all the Strawhats to anime faceplant. Karasu looked at Ace. "But what?" She didn't get a response. "But what?" She repeated her question, but still no answer. "BUT WHAT?" She yelled high-pitched at him, but still he didn't budge. "FINE! I'm not sleeping with you tonight! Come on Luffy." Karasu took Luffy by the arm and walked off with him. Leona sighed. "Still doesn't sound right."

Mikita walked over to Zoro. "By the way, I think I stretched out your shirt a little when I marked you… my bad." Zoro shrugged. "Eh, it's fine. I've got others." Mikita sighed. "Yeah but because of that I had to deal with miss big mouth over there," she pointed at Leona, who was chasing a bird around. "HEY! GUESS WHAT? MIKI HAS A MATE!" She was looking up while running and she tripped over Ace. She got back up and paused. "HEY YOU! GUESS WHAT?" Mikita sweatdropped.

Ace spontaneously woke up. "I don't need to punch her." Leona raised an eyebrow. "…MIKI HAS A MATE! IT'S ZORO!" Mikita's eyes widened. "Uhh Zoro… we should get in the Merry and hide… now." She started slowly walking toward the Merry. Zoro nodded. "Right..." He jumped up and ran into the cabin, Mikita following right behind him before they shut the door. Ace looked around. "Anyways, since Blackbeard's not here, I guess I'd better get going. Take care of Luffy for me." Luffy laughed. "I look after them!" Nami smashed him over the head. "IF THAT WERE THE CASE WE'D ALL BE DEAD!"

Karasu looked at Ace sadly as he left. "Aww, I never got to sleep with him. Oh well. Let's go Luffy! Let's have a contest to see who's cuter! I wanna ask Miki first!" She ran into the ship and saw Mikita sitting in Zoro's lap. Karasu struck a pose. "Miki, am I cuter than Luffy?" Mikita shrugged. "Sure why not?" Karasu smiled. "YAY! That's one point for me, zero points for Luffy!" Luffy looked around. "Hey! Chopper! Am I cute?" Chopper looked at Luffy. "Cute? Umm... I don't know. Yes?" Luffy did a victory pump. "One point for me!" Karasu looked at Luffy for a second before yelling out, "SANJI!" She then took off to find him.

Mikita watched them run off and shook her head. "They are so weird." She leaned back on Zoro and yawned. Luffy then ran over to Leona. "Hey! Leona? Am I cute?" Karasu ran over to Luffy and slapped him in the back of the head. "Don't cheat! You are supposed to say 'am I cuter than Karasu?' you retard!" Leona just stared. Nami sighed. "This is going to go on for awhile..."

After a while of competing, Karasu smirked at Luffy. "So that's one thousand and ninety nine votes for me, and ONE VOTE FOR YOU!" She wiggled her booty in triumph. "I'm too cute." Leona gave her a flat look. "That's because you asked every ant and flea you could find." Karasu glared at Leona. "I could read their minds! And did you know that insects are extremely perverted? One even tried to crawl up my shirt!" Leona looked at her strangely. "Some bugs do that…"

"Yeah because they're perverts," Karasu replied. Leona just laughed. "Okay. Whatever you say." Luffy stared at Karasu. "Really? There are over a thousand people on this island? Where are they?" He started looking around and lifting up rocks as if he could find them. Nami sighed. "Anyways, we've accomplished everything, so we may as well set sail." Leona nodded. "Okay." Karasu laughed and pulled Luffy back to the ship with her once again. "Come on loser!" Luffy grinned. "I bet I've got a higher bounty than you!" Karasu looked at him. "I don't even have a bounty on me and I've killed many. I get away with stealing because I'm too cute."

Leona walked in to the ship and noticed that Mikita was asleep snuggled up to Zoro. Leona smiled wide and pointed at them. "LOOK! HOW CUTE! SHE'S SLEEPING IN HIS LAP!" Mikita suddenly woke up, half startled and pissed as she directed a glare at Leona. "Will you shut the hell up? JEEZ!" She laid her head back on Zoro and closed her eyes. Leona paused for a second and then smiled again, walking away and giggling. In the kitchen, you could hear her yelling, "GUESS WHAT SANJI?" Zoro sighed, pretending to be asleep. Mikita growled lowly and tried to ignore Leona's irritating voice, but then she heard, "MIKITA'S SLEEPING WITH ZORO! RIGHT NOW! GO LOOK AT THE CUTENESS!" Mikita's eyes shot open. "Oh shit…" Zoro growled. "Should we throw her over again?" Mikita smirked and nodded.

Before long, Leona was out in the water swimming rapidly away from the sharks. "I JUST WANTED TO SPREAD THE NEWS! I'M SO HAPPY FOR YOU! OW!" Mikita just watched in amusement as Leona dashed toward the ship. Zoro glared at her. "Well don't!" Mikita looked at Zoro and laughed. "I'm just surprised that Sanji didn't come tripping out of the kitchens to see what was going on." At the exact moment that Mikita finished her sentence, Zoro was sent flying to the other side of the ship by Sanji's 'Mutton Shot'. Mikita scratched Sanji across the face. "DON'T TOUCH HIM!" Off in the distance you could hear Leona screaming.

Sanji looked sullen for a moment. Then... "I'll save you Leona-swan!" He dived off the ship into the water and started swimming towards Leona. Leona swam toward Sanji frantically. "Jellyfish! AAAHHHHH! I'm allergic to jelly!" Mikita sighed and turned to Zoro. "Shall we go back to sleep now?" She yawned and stretched. "The idiots can handle themselves." Sanji swam over to Leona. "Hold onto me Leona-swan! I'll get you back!" Zoro stared. "No, let's wait a bit. This could get entertaining." Mikita laughed and nodded as she watched Leona scramble on top of Sanji's head, submerging his head under the water in panic. "It'll spit jelly on me!" The cook flailed around a bit, trying to signal to Leona in some way. Leona saw the jellyfish moving closer to her and she took off for the ship, getting there rather quickly. That left Sanji out in the water close to the jellyfish. Sanji stared at the jellyfish for a moment. "I bet I could use you for something good!" He smashed the jellyfish hard with a kick. Leona yelled, "Don't you dare hand me a peanut butter and jelly sandwich!"

Karasu was watching Sanji in the water and she soon grabbed onto Luffy's arms. "Come on! Let's go help the pervert!" She pulled Luffy into the water with her, forgetting that he was incapable of swimming. Mikita sweatdropped. "KARASU! YOU IDIOT! …Damn it! She's already under water!" Luffy's eyes suddenly widened as he tried to hold his breath, unable to move. Sanji kept on beating up the jellyfish then started dragging it back as he swam for the ship. Karasu noticed that Luffy wasn't moving while they were underwater and she tried to slap him. The water resistance made it a really slow progress and once her hand reached his cheek, it didn't do any more than a touch. Karasu shrugged and went up to the surface of the water, looking down at Luffy under the water. "Hey! Can you breathe? STOP IGNORING ME! AND STOP SINKING DOWN THERE WHILE I'M TALKING TO YOU!" She dove back under to get Luffy as she brought him back up above water. Luffy glared at Karasu. "When I'm in the water, I swim about as well as a brick..." Karasu then started strangling him. "WHY DID YOU IGNORE ME?"

Mikita was watching the entire thing as she laughed. "You're right. This _is_ interesting." Sanji climbed on board the Merry and dropped the jellyfish on deck. Luffy sweatdropped. "You're not going to let go... right?" Karasu looked at him strangely. "You want me to let go? Well okay, whatever you say." She let go of Luffy and he began to sink again. Luffy's eyes widened. "No! I didn't say-" Then he was underwater again, and sinking fast. Karasu watched him. "Didn't say what…? DIDN'T SAY WHAT? WHAT DID I TELL YOU ABOUT IGNORING ME?" She dove under and brought him up to the surface of the water to smack him. "I couldn't do that under the water, so THERE!" She then smiled. "You need to learn how to swim… and I'm going to teach you!" Mikita laughed. "This ought to be good."

Leona was backing away from the jellyfish. "No jelly on me! AWAY WITH JELLY!" She had her fingers in a cross as she backed away from it. Luffy pouted. "I can't swim because I ate the Gomu Gomu fruit. Anyone who eats the fruit can never swim again." Sanji stood in front of Leona. "It's alright, the jelly won't hurt you as long as I'm here." Zoro yelled at him. "Oh, get a room!" Mikita just smirked at Zoro. "Does that irritate you?" Zoro looked at her. "What?" Mikita shook her head. "Dunce."

Karasu was still in the water holding onto Luffy. "Okay. On the count of three I'm letting go. One…" She went ahead and dropped him on 'one'. "…Sorry I dazed out. Luffy? DAMN IT! STOP IGNORING ME!" She went back under and retrieved him again. Luffy spat out seawater. "Karasu! I just can't swim. The Devil Fruit won't allow me to!" Karasu shook him. "If you try hard enough, you can!" She shoved him under the water. "Now SWIM!" Mikita sweatdropped. "Should someone go get Luffy now? Karasu will not listen to logic…" Zoro looked at Mikita. "There's nothing 'logical' about the Devil fruit." Luffy was starting to drown again. Karasu was looking down at him in the water. "KICK YOUR LEGS DUMB ASS!" Mikita rolled her eyes and shoved Zoro into the water. "Just go get him before Karasu kills him!"

Zoro swam in the opposite direction of Karasu. Luffy started kicking his legs but still sank. Mikita looked down at Zoro and yelled, "You direction-impaired dumb ass! GO THE OTHER WAY!" Mikita then sighed and shoved Sanji into the water. "YOU go get him!" Zoro nodded. "Got it!" He then started swimming sideways. Sanji started swimming for Luffy, who was kicking as much as he could but sinking just as fast. Mikita growled. "I'm surrounded by even more retards." She looked over at Leona, who was poking the jellyfish with a stick. "Just my luck."

Sanji managed to get to Luffy underwater and pulled him up to the surface to get some air. "Geez, Luffy you should stop getting into these situations." Karasu glared at Sanji. "He was learning to swim! He almost had it and you messed him up!" Sanji sighed. "Karasu-chwan... it would be easier to teach a rock how to swim. He's simply unable to. He never will be able to swim. Once you've eaten a Devil Fruit you lose the ability to swim forever." Karasu stared at Sanji. "If he tries hard enough he can! Don't you listen to me at all? YOU THINK I'M STUPID!" She then swam for the ship, screaming high-pitched in aggravation and sadness. Sanji swam next to her. "No. He can't. No matter how hard someone tries, the Devil Fruit will prevent them from swimming." Karasu looked at Sanji. "Hey, where's Luffy?" Sanji gestured to an arm he was holding. An arm that stretched a long way back, as Luffy had ended up getting snagged on a high rock.

Mikita looked down at Zoro. "What in the hell are you doing?" Zoro climbed back onto the ship. "I was trying to find Luffy." Mikita laughed. "Well you were doing a horrible job at it." Zoro shrugged. "I have a bad sense of direction. So what?" Sanji was busy pulling Luffy up on deck. Mikita smirked at Zoro. "You're probably so direction-impaired that you can't even find the air." Zoro looked at her. "Well, I'm still alive aren't I?" Mikita smiled sneakily. "Alive and stupid." Zoro shrugged. "If I'm stupid then I shudder to think of what you must be considered." Mikita stared him in the eye. "Your mind can't comprehend your face!" She had no idea what she meant by that remark, but it was funny in her mind.

Zoro stared. "Great... I'm in love with an idiot who can't come up with good insults..." Mikita glared. "Your face is an insult!" She was trying her best not to bust out laughing at her own stupidity. Zoro sighed. "Whatever... I'm going back inside." He walked around, going into the cabin.

Mikita couldn't contain her laughter as she followed him. "I couldn't help myself. You know I have to insult you. I actually got those lines of nonsense from Karasu. She uses them against me all the time. They sure make no sense and confuse a person, but they're funny." She jumped in front of him and smiled. "Yes I know I'm an idiot, but do you know why?" Zoro narrowed his eyes. "It'll have something to do with me I'm sure." Mikita smirked. "You know me all too well. Of course you're always going to be the one to blame. Females always blame things on their mates." Zoro sighed. "I can hardly wait." He commented sarcastically.

"Wait on what? This?" She leaned in and kissed him. Zoro gently kissed her back. "Well, this, I don't mind." Mikita smiled. "Of course you don't mind it. You're a perverted retard." She laughed a bit and walked on. "Come on. I'm sleepy. Let's stay away from the losers and try to get some more rest." Zoro smirked. "I am not a retard." He left himself open purposely knowing Mikita would enjoy taunting him, whereas he didn't really care. Mikita shrugged and walked on to the crow's nest, lying down in it. "Sure you are. With all the years that you've known yourself, you don't believe me when I tell you that?" Zoro came in beside her. "My intelligence is just fine. After all, I have them to compare my mind to." He pointed at Luffy and Karasu.

"You are indeed a retard because you seemed to have left out a little factor…" Mikita replied with a sneaky smile. "And you thought I didn't notice it." Zoro smirked. "Who said I forgot about it?" Mikita smiled. "So you _are_ a pervert. I told you Sanji was rubbing off on you." Zoro shrugged. "Thank god he hasn't done it that much. I can probably blame you too." Mikita looked at him. "I can't help it if I've had to put up with Leona all my life." Zoro sweatdropped. "Why are the idiots that surround us rubbing off on us?" Mikita shrugged. "We're just that lucky. Are you going to join me or not because my eyes are not going to remain open much longer to argue with your insulting face!" She smiled and tried not to laugh. Zoro smiled and lay down next to her. "Yeah, yeah, alright." Mikita purred and cuddled up to him. "That's what I thought," she taunted one last time before closing her eyes with a slight smile.


	12. Chapter 12

In the middle of the night, Mikita woke up and decided to sneak out of the crow's nest without waking Zoro. His sleeping form wasn't stirred as she looked at him and smiled lightly before walking out quietly. She walked out on the deck and looked at the dark rippling waters below her. _Mother… are you disappointed in me? I wish I knew…_ She tried to ignore her thoughts. Soon there was an unwanted presence nearby as Mikita sensed it. Her ear twitched and she perked her ears up as she looked around her.

The presence also awakened Karasu's senses as she opened her eyes and sat up, walking off and leaving Luffy to sleep soundly with his mouth wide open. She walked over to the door of the cabin to see Mikita looking up into the sky. Suddenly, a strange unknown force yanked Mikita up into the air and she was gone instantly from sight. Karasu's eyes widened. "I didn't know Miki could fly…" She then shrugged and walked back inside. Zoro continued to sleep, unknowing that Mikita was in danger.

Mikita was taken quickly to an isolated, open place in the forest. She was dropped from a pretty high elevation and she landed roughly as she grunted in pain and tightly closed her eyes. She struggled to get back up and opened her eyes to see the one that had brought her there. She glared at the man who had given her a complex. "Tsuyoku." He simply smiled at her. "Surprising that I would find you here my dear." Mikita stood up and glared at him, ignoring the aching in her back and her right arm from being dropped so far. "You… you followed me. How foolish." She reached for her Dragon Tail, unsheathing it about an inch from its sheath. "Our battle will not be interrupted this time." Tsuyoku smirked. "Precisely." He lunged at her and struck at her with his claws, but Mikita blocked with her sword as she pulled it out of the sheath quickly.

"Why do you think I brought you out here?" Tsuyoku asked, repeating the purpose of her statement. Mikita pushed him away with the sword and slashed at him, creating a blast of energy that hit him in the chest. Tsuyoku jumped back and leered at her, his wound healing almost instantly. "That trick again eh?" He created a pointed weapon from the earth between them as it hovered in the air by the use of his telekinesis. "Just like your mother." He smirked and fired it toward her, which she sliced in half with her sword. This separated the chunk of earth into several pieces and they all began to surround her. This surprised Mikita, especially when the earth segments caught on fire. They seemed to create a tornado around her and she was unable to escape from them as she watched them surround her.

"Escape this!" He yelled as the pieces began to dart for her. Mikita jerked the Dragon Tail and extended the weapon, but she was cut up by a few of the attacks in the process. She ignored the pain as she began to create a tornado by swirling her weapon around her. The tornado was also added onto with her spiritual energy and this dispelled the jagged chunks of earth surrounding her. The winds tossed the earth attacks right back at Tsuyoku as the tornado transported the attack toward him at a high speed. Tsuyoku was cut up to an extent, but not as greatly as she wound have desired. He destroyed the tornado and glared at Mikita. She had more injuries than he had and Mikita was a bit more fatigued. _That attack uses up much of my spiritual energy. It wasn't even as effective as I had hoped. I'll have to try something else. _

"That was quite impressive Mikita," Tsuyoku stated with a slight hint of sarcasm in his voice. "Of course, how do you expect to measure up to me if you can't even unleash your fullest potential?" Mikita looked at him with a surprised anger. "What do you mean by that?" He walked closer to her as he spoke, which made Mikita take a step back each time. "You thought that you could take a shortcut to power… but it doesn't work that way dearie. A wolf's tradition wasn't meant to be broken, and your mother knows that all too well." Mikita glared at him with a severe hatred. "It was your fault that she couldn't have the life she deserved."

"Oh, but it was your fault, for you were the one that led to her demise." He replied as he peered into her eyes evilly. Mikita was hurt by these words as she narrowed her eyes even more. "You evil cretin." Tsuyoku simply grinned. "Why thank you. I would have preferred 'daddy', but 'evil cretin' will do just fine." Mikita prepared her weapon for another attack. "Let's see you say that once you are unable to force out the words in that last breath." The links in her Dragon Tail began to glow with fire mixed with spiritual energy. This created a purple energy surrounding the links. "I've always wanted to try out this attack. I'll use you as a test subject." She launched the attack at her father with one swift swipe of her weapon as they fired toward him at immense speeds.

Once it seemed that the attacks had reached him, they seemed to explode before her eyes and consume him. She gazed on with a look of victory, but her smile turned to a frown once the smoke cleared away and he was discovered standing there unharmed. He had used a barrier to block against the attack. Mikita stared at him flatly. "Well wasn't that convenient?" He caused his barrier to disappear as he looked into her eyes. "Good show… but it's time to get this over with. You've had your fun."

Back on the Merry, Karasu was lying next to Luffy with her eyes closed. Before long, her eyes flew open and she jumped up to a sitting position, accidentally slapping Luffy in the face. "WAIT A MINUTE! MIKI CAN'T FLY!" She jumped up and ran across the ship screaming, "ZORO! ZOOOOOOROOOOOOO!" Both Zoro and Luffy woke up. "What is it?" They said in unison. Zoro noticed Mikita wasn't with him and jumped down. "Where'd Mikita go?" Karasu looked at Zoro. "I don't know. I know she can't fly, but somehow she ended up in the air and disappearing." Zoro glared at her. "Well then it looks like we're going to follow her."

Mikita had been injured and cut up greatly as she lay there paralyzed once more. It was similar to the past encounter as Tsuyoku hovered over her, his hands on her throat and his claws barely touching her neck. "It's funny how you thought you could beat me. You don't stand a chance against me. Your mother didn't and neither do you. This time, no one will interfere. Why, you're not even worth the attempt to battle with." Mikita glared at him as his face came down closer to hers. He put his clawed hands on her shoulders, leering into her eyes with cruel intentions. "This time, I will consume your powers, including the pathetic abilities that you have acquired due to that human swordsman."

Mikita's anger grew even more after he said that and soon Tsuyoku flinched and grunted with pain. Blood trickled down his side and arms. Mikita's hidden dagger that she kept with her had been stabbed into his back. She had somehow fought against the spell when she should have been paralyzed. It wasn't easy for her to do, but she somehow managed to jab the blade into his back as she stared him coldly in the eyes. "Seems that swordsman has taught me a valuable lesson. One's willpower, if strong and confident enough, can conquer anything." She jerked the dagger out of his back as the blood dripped onto her own clothes as well.

Tsuyoku staggered up onto his feet and glared at her angrily. "You bitch!" he used his telekinesis to jerk her up into the air and into a hard rock. Tsuyoku was about to come after her, but an arrow of fire was fired at him and it slashed at the edge of his leg. Tsuyoku glared at the source of the arrow as Mikita was slipping from consciousness.

Immediately following the arrow came three blades of wind from one side. From another, came a fist on an incredibly long arm, and from above came an exploding pellet fired from Usopp's slingshot. Tsuyoku leered at all of the enemies and suddenly vanished. As he disappeared from sight, he addressed Mikita as he said, "Next time I face you we will not be interrupted. Maybe by then you will have given up all hope. You're not even worth facing. You are just as pathetic as your mother was. Until next time baby…" The lingering patch of smoke then vanished and Mikita's eyes flickered with half-awareness.

Zoro started to walk over to Mikita when a flying kick knocked him over. "You damn Marimo... I can't believe you let this happen to Mikita-sama!" Leona walked over to Sanji and held out her hand in restraint. "No San-San… Look…" Leona was referring to Mikita, who had one single tear rolling down her face and to the tip of her nose as she lie there on her side. Karasu walked up and looked at Mikita sadly. "Miki…" Zoro kneeled down next to Mikita and wiped the tear away. He then lifted her up. "Let's go back and have Chopper take a look at her."

While Zoro carried her, she looked out at nothing. "I failed…" Her words came out as near whispers. Zoro looked at her. "No. You didn't." The rest of the crew was following behind. It looked like only the girls, and Chopper had stayed behind. Mikita still did not look into Zoro's eyes. She coughed up a bit of blood. "Yes… I did. I failed my mother… and I failed myself." Her words trailed off into a whisper as she slipped into a state of unconsciousness. Zoro kept on walking with her. _No. You haven't failed anyone until you give up._

"Miki won't give up," Karasu said as they walked along. Leona nodded in agreement. Luffy nodded. "She'd better not! Or I'll punch her!" Karasu glared at Luffy. "Oh yeah? Then I'll punch you!" Leona laughed. "Cut it out you two lovebirds." Karasu looked at Leona strangely. "Love birds? Where?" She looked up in the sky for birds. Luffy also stared up into the sky looking for the birds. Zoro sweatdropped. "You have to be literal when doing things like that Leona."

Leona sighed. "Fine. Luffy, Karasu, you two would make a cute couple." Karasu looked at Leona and raised an eyebrow. "A cute couple of what?" Leona faceplanted. Zoro wanted faceplant as well but he was carrying Mikita. Leona made a sound of frustration. "Karasu. I'm going to make this simple. "You: Girlfriend. Luffy: Boyfriend. Get the picture?" Karasu shook her head. "No I didn't get a picture of anything." Leona slapped her own forehead. "Never mind." Zoro sighed. "Just forget about it Leona. We can all have fun laughing at them when we find them making out on the ship." Leona nodded and smirked at Karasu. "That's true." Karasu looked at her curiously. "What's true?"

"Karasu! You have got to be kidding me! You are so dense!" Leona yelled. Karasu yelled back at her, "I'm not water!" Leona just blinked at that statement. Zoro blinked. "She means you're stupid." Karasu paused for a moment before replying, "Huh? Sorry I wasn't listening. I was dazed out thinking." Leona nodded. "Ah, and what were you thinking about?" She smirked, thinking that Karasu had understood what she said before. Karasu looked at Leona. "I was thinking?" Leona sweatdropped. "You just said you were thinking about something." Karasu appeared as if she didn't know what Leona was talking about. "When?" Zoro looked at Leona. "Why is it she only probes our minds when we don't want her to? In this case, it might be a good way to get the message across of what we're saying to her." Karasu was still in a daze as she walked on ahead of them all. Leona shook her head. "I have no idea, but I sure do agree with you there Zoro." Karasu smirked as she walked on. _It's fun to mess with those goons._

They finally hit the ship and Mikita was under Choppers care before long. Well, right after he'd had his usual panic session. Mikita was still unaware of her surroundings and she couldn't reach consciousness just yet. Zoro was weight training as usual, but he didn't actually put as much effort into it as usual. He was too busy worrying about Mikita.

Mikita was in a dream, seeing her mother with Tsuyoku and imagining how it must have happened. She saw her mother moving her claws closer to Tsuyoku's shoulder, but then he grabbed her hair and pulled her head back forcefully. This stopped her from what she was doing. Tsuyoku smirked. "Not gonna happen dearie."

Mikita then woke up as her eyes squinted to see what was going on around her. The only other person in the room aside from Mikita was Chopper and he was reading through a large book on various medicines. Mikita strained and tried to sit up. Chopper turned around. "Mikita! You're awake! Wait right there, I'll go tell Zoro." He hopped down from his stool to run for the door. Mikita sat there and seemed upset as she soon buried her face in her hands.

Zoro walked into the room and looked at Mikita. He didn't even hesitate to walk over to her side and put his arm around her. Mikita looked up at him and blinked her eyes free from the tears. "Zoro…" She embraced him tightly. Zoro kissed her cheek gently. "It's alright Mikita." Mikita started crying harder as her voice heaved out the words. "I saw her… I saw what happened to her… I couldn't stop it… I couldn't stop him… I've let her down again Zoro… I've let myself down. I'm just a mistake." She held onto him tighter in a rage of tears and anger at once. Her emotions were so confused. Zoro held onto Mikita. "But you're not giving up." Mikita sniffed. "I know I can't, but… That's just it! I can't! I just can't!" What she was yelling about exactly probably couldn't be easily deciphered.

Zoro looked into Mikita's eyes. "What can't you do? Beat him? Wield your sword to its fullest?" Mikita closed her eyes and looked away as a few more tears fell down her cheeks. "I… I just… can't." Zoro hugged her again. "Then try until you can."

"But I'm scared!" Mikita yelled out in fear and sadness as her body shook lightly, her fists clenched and trembling. She tried to take in deeper breaths and she looked down at her fists. "She's the reason… He's the cause… of my pain. I have no trust because of him!" She ran out of the ship in a rage of confusion.

Karasu and Leona watched her as she ran off the Merry. "Mikita!" Leona said as she was about to run after her, but Karasu stopped her. Leona glared at Karasu. "She can't be out there alone Karasu! It's too dangerous for her! He could still be nearby somewhere!" Zoro chased after her. "Mikita!" Karasu looked at Leona. "I don't think that will be a problem."

Mikita was still running, yet she was still in Zoro's view as she tried to run faster. Her current weak state from the battle made her collapse after a short while. Zoro caught up with her. "You're not the first to have come a long way, and then discover it's all for nothing Mikita." Mikita didn't respond as she sat up shakily. Zoro looked at her calmly. "Ready to head back?" Mikita looked up at him. She opened her mouth as if she was going to speak and she reached out her hand a short distance to him as if to reach for him, but she nearly closed her mouth and pulled her hand back to her chest. She appeared confused, nervous, sad, angry; maybe the emotion was simply unreadable. Mikita's eyes narrowed as she stared in front of her blankly and put her hands down in front of her, her eyes following her hands until she was looking down. Zoro looked at her in disappointment. "Mikita. You're _not_ going to give up." Mikita remained the same way as she responded in a whisper. "No." Zoro nodded. "Then stand up."

Mikita looked up at him with a sort of glare as she spoke up a little bit more. "No." She seemed to just stare him in the eyes, not moving her line of sight from him. Her glaring eyes formed tears as her expression began to sadden. Zoro sighed and started walking off. "Fine then. Sit there and sulk. Just letting you know, we _are_ going to leave eventually, whether you come back or not." It actually hurt Zoro to say those words, but he said them anyways.

"ZORO!" Mikita yelled out at him, her voice sounding somewhat murderous and fierce. She was breathing faster and her fangs were showing as she glared with dark, hurt eyes. Zoro turned and looked at her. "Yes?" Mikita had so much stress in her at the moment that it was overwhelming her. She was shaking, glaring, crying, and unaware of some of her reactions completely. She forced herself up onto her feet and walked over toward him as she spoke, her voice stern and slightly hateful. "Get off my back. The last thing I need is your dumb ass remarks of putting me down."

Zoro kept walking. "If you don't like my remarks, do something about them. That's what the Mikita I know would've done." Mikita glared at him. "I'm trying to do something about all of this, but you won't shut your fucking mouth long enough to notice the fear in my eyes that you're only making harder for me! There's something you don't understand… and I guess I was wrong for ever thinking you would." She continued walking on as she stared coldly in front of her. "And no… I'm _not_ giving up on my dream. I never intended to. Does that make you happy fucktard? If not, then get over it and kiss my ass." She walked on, her heart full of anger. Zoro smirked. "Heh. That's more like it."

Later that evening on the Merry, Mikita wasn't eating her dinner as she sat there and stared off at nothing. Leona looked at her. "Mikita what's wrong?" Mikita leered at her. "Nothing." She stood up and walked outside on the Merry's deck. Leona watched her walk out. "There's something strange about her. She's been acting so strange lately." She got up and was about to follow Mikita, but then she heard her howls of depression and sadness. She looked out there to see her standing by the railing and holding onto it while howling up at the skies. Leona looked at Karasu with a frown, who returned the same look.

Zoro looked at Mikita silently. He was planning on talking to her again, later. Leona walked up to Mikita after she was done howling. "Do you wanna talk about it Miki?" Mikita didn't answer her, so she assumed that was a 'no'. Leona simply stood next to her and looked out at the waters with her. "You need to get some rest." Mikita was still silent. Leona began to sing to her:

Take away the heartache

Ease away the pain

Let your heart flow freely

Now spread your wings and fly

Mikita then picked up on the next verse:

The sounds of love your heart makes

Listen to the rain

Hear the wind blow freely

Be part of a lullaby

They both sang the chorus beautifully in harmony:

Drift away through the night

Find your dream and fly

Drift away, far away

You're part of a lullaby

Mikita looked at Leona as they ended their lovely song and she managed to slightly smile. Leona nodded with a grin, seeing as how she had done her job, and she walked back inside after patting her sister on the shoulder. Mikita sighed with more calmness as she looked back out at the waters. _She always did know how to calm me down._ Zoro walked up next to her. "Are you feeling better at all?" Mikita glanced at him and turned her head back to the direction that she was looking in the first place as she nodded. After a little bit of a pause, she softly said, "I'm sorry." Zoro looked at her. "For what?"

"For a lot of things… but mostly for the fact that I snapped at you earlier," Mikita replied. He shrugged. "You seemed a bit stressed."

"And you certainly didn't help with that you know," Mikita stated, still hurt inside from that earlier incident. Zoro looked at her. "Sorry, but you'd have probably hated to be pitied by me even more." Mikita looked at him. "Well you could have done something different! I don't know! I don't need for you to hurt my feelings! I need… I… never mind." She looked away from him. Zoro put an arm around her shoulders. "I'd never intentionally hurt your feelings."

"You did earlier." She felt like she wanted to cry again, but she held back. Zoro nodded. "It's not much, but I'm sorry for it." Mikita was silent. She didn't know what to say, so she slid her hand over his hand that was on her shoulder and nodded. Zoro smiled at her. "If you want me to, I'll be with you next time." Mikita looked at him. "Thanks, but if you do I have to handle this on my own. He is my problem… just as Mihawk is yours. We both want to accomplish our dreams, but for me to do that… Never mind. We'll talk about that some other time." She gave him a kind smile.

Zoro nodded. It was much clearer to him in the way she had put it. When he faced Mihawk for their true duel, he wanted no interference. He'd gladly give the same right to any other person. Mikita looked at him and her smile dulled a little as she looked back out at the waters as if something were still lingering on her mind. She soon let out a slightly frustrated sigh and stroked his hand. Zoro looked at her. "Is something wrong?" Mikita looked at him again. "No… Well yes, but… We'll discuss it another day." She seemed a little nervous and yet, she kept her smile as she gazed into his eyes with reassurance. Zoro nodded at her. He kissed her on the lips gently and pulled away. Mikita couldn't help but to kiss him again, but this time keeping it a little longer. Zoro pulled his arms around her gently. After awhile he pulled back. "I'll see you in the morning." Mikita nodded. "Okay." As she watched him walk away, she thought for a moment and said, "Zoro…" He paused. "Yeah?"

"…I love you." Zoro smiled at her. "I love you too Mikita." He walked over and up to the bird's nest and laid down in it, falling asleep. Mikita grinned lightly, relieved that she had told him what was in her heart.

Leona was watching from inside as she looked at Mikita. _What they need to do is go on a date._ She heard Mikita humming a tune and this made her smile. _I think I know just the place. _


	13. Chapter 13

The next morning, Leona went running through the ship yelling, "Come on guys! We have plans today!" Mikita had accompanied Zoro in the crow's nest as she growled and buried her face next to Zoro's arm. "Since when?" She mumbled sleepily. Leona jumped around in front of them. "Aww come on! It'll be fun!" Karasu and Luffy were still knocked out and Leona sighed at them. Zoro sighed. "No. Too tired. Maybe later." Leona turned to Zoro and Mikita in disappointment. "Come on you two. You need to get out more." Mikita looked at her sleepily and raised an agitated eyebrow. "We do?" Leona nodded with a big grin. "Uh-huh. I know of this great place that I want us all to go to, especially you two… and Luffy and Karasu."

"What do you mean?" Mikita asked as she rubbed sleepy tears from her eye. Leona wetted her lips and it was apparent that she was anxious to get everyone up. "Just get up and I'll show you. COME ON EVERYONE!" Karasu was still asleep and twitching, so Leona went over to her and poked her nose. This woke her up almost instantly, although it resulted in Leona getting slapped across the face. "Stupid flies," Karasu muttered sleepily through a yawn. Leona rubbed her cheek. "Come on guys!"

Zoro looked at Mikita. "Do you want to tell her to screw off or should I?" Mikita shook her head. "No. She'll take that literally." Mikita's perverted joke made Karasu laugh, since she had heard it in her mind. Leona looked at her strangely. "What is so funny?" Karasu just shook her hand as if to say 'never mind' and stood up. Leona was even more confused, but she shook it off. "Are you ready to go San-San?"

Zoro shrugged. "Well maybe if we tell her to go away enough, she'll get the message." Mikita stretched and sat up. "I kind of doubt it." She stood up and looked at Zoro, stroking his cheek gently. "Come on. Let's go see what pervert woman has in store for us." She smirked and walked away from him. Zoro growled. "I'd prefer it if I could just sleep."

Mikita was greeted by Leona's usual plotting creepy grin. "What are you thinking? I don't like that look." Leona looked at Mikita and replied, "You need to dress nicer today. You're going on a date." Mikita's eyes widened. "WHAT? No way! Nuh-uh! I'm going back to bed." She started walking back toward Zoro, but Leona grabbed her arm and stopped her. "Miki, it'll be fun. Trust me." Mikita looked back at her flatly. "I don't." Leona rolled her eyes. "So, it'll still be fun. Come on." Mikita glared. "There's no way in hell that I am going to wear a dress." Leona laughed. "Okay, but you will dress nicely in a pretty shirt and pants then." Mikita growled at the idea.

After a few minutes, Mikita came out wearing a tight, dark blue-green shirt with rhinestones on it. The sleeves were wide and long and the shirt complemented her figure. With it, she wore a pair of black pants that nearly flared at the bottom. Leona looked at her and thought about the tail situation. "Hmm…" Leona used her shape shifting abilities to make Mikita's tail disappear. Mikita looked behind her. "Hey! Where'd my tail go?"

"Relax," Leona replied, "I may not know that many tricks with shape shifting just yet, but now you can see that tight butt." Mikita glared at her. "You are such a pervert." Leona shrugged. "So what? Zoro will think you are gorgeous. Of course, San-San will too…" Leona giggled. Mikita rolled her eyes. "Great," she stated sarcastically.

Zoro had fallen asleep again. Sanji was now staring at Mikita flirtingly... again. Leona smirked at Mikita. "I wonder…" She then made Mikita's wolf ears disappear and gave her human ears. Mikita felt her head and appeared shocked. "Don't do that! Change me back Leona!" Leona looked at her with a satisfied smile. "Why not? You look like a gorgeous human." Mikita growled. "Exactly." Leona smiled. "You look terrific. Now, go wake up your mate and tell him to get on something decent." Mikita sighed in frustration as she went over to Zoro and whacked him in the arm. "Come on. Leona's not giving up." Zoro didn't budge. "Well, then let's see who has a stronger will. My desire to stay here and sleep, or her desire to drag me out where I don't want to go."

"How do you think I feel?" Mikita asked. "Just look at what she did to me. Do you think I want to be seen like this?" Zoro went red. "You actually do look good in that..." He shrugged. "Just don't go." Mikita blushed a little unknowingly. "I do?" Leona hollered at them. "Come on guys! We're all ready to go. We're just waiting on Zoro." Mikita sighed. "Looks like we can't back down now."

Karasu was dancing around all cocky. "I'm too cute in my Chinese skirt." Leona smirked at her. "Apparently, because Sanji can't stop staring at your legs." Karasu glared at Sanji and then had an idea. "LUFFY! HE HIT ME!" Luffy looked at Karasu. "Sanji wouldn't hit you. Sanji's too nice to girls for that. Because he's weird." He was eating a fruit while he spoke. That resulted in him being knocked over by Sanji, berating Luffy for eating it without permission. Karasu glared at Luffy. "You're not supporting the cause Luffy!"

Zoro shrugged. "Like I said. Just don't go. It's that easy." Mikita looked at him flatly. "Do you have any idea how much that one will bug us if we don't go?" She pointed to Leona, who was yelling at Sanji, Luffy, and Karasu. Zoro shrugged. "Oh well. I've had people nag me before." Leona looked over at Zoro and sighed in aggravation as she walked over to him. "Come on sleepy head! Get up! We're ready to go!" Zoro rolled over. "Go away Leona. I'm not going." Leona glared. "Fine. We're going anyway. Are you coming Mikita?" Mikita smirked at her. "Of course not. Why would I want to be seen with the likes of you?" Leona rolled her eyes. "Fine. See you two stubborn asses later." Leona and the others left, leaving Mikita and Zoro alone on the Merry.

Mikita walked outside and looked out from the ship's railing, watching as they left. "Heh, losers." She smirked with her rudeness and then looked back at where Zoro was resting. She smiled and turned back to look out at the forest as she lowly and softly started to sing, "I've tried so hard to get where I am. I try to hold on to my dream…" As the rest of the Strawhats left with Leona, Zoro finally got up and jumped over the side of the bird's nest. "Finally. I thought she'd never leave." Mikita continued to sing softly. Zoro stood silently, listening to her voice.

Mikita sensed that he was standing there and she looked back at him, blushing slightly. "Oh… I didn't know you were there." Zoro nodded. "You've got a great voice." Mikita was still a bit red. "Thanks." Zoro looked at Mikita. "Were there any other lines in the song?" Mikita nodded and took a breath. She was a bit shy at first, but then she sang:

I've tried so hard to get where I am

I try to hold on to my dream

I follow you, I end up lost

And now it's over in me

She walked closer to him slowly as she continued:

I carry on through all my grief

The pain is taking over me

And even when it seems so hard

I try to follow my heart

Carry me all the way

I will never give in to my fear

Lead me into the light

I will follow my dream 'til I die

Here with you

By this point, she was standing in front of him, gazing tenderly into his eyes with a hand relaxed on his chest. Zoro smiled. "That's a great song." Mikita smiled back. "Thanks. I mean it with all my heart." She looked at him so closely and passionately as if she longed to kiss him. Zoro nodded. "So, is there anything you want to do?" Mikita bit her lower lip and swallowed nervously. "Well…" She was avoiding eye contact and lightly shaking as she slowly removed her hand from where it was on his chest. "Uhh… no. No, there isn't really…" She breathed in and turned away from him, closing her eyes.

Zoro shrugged, and then smirked at her. "Then... do you want to try sparring?" Mikita shook her head. "…No. Not… not really." She walked over and sat down near the mast, leaning her head back. She seemed sad or scared, plus upset with herself. Her fists balled up and she kept her eyes closed. Zoro walked next to her. "You've been acting a bit odd Mikita, ever since last night. What's happened?" Mikita looked at him through sadly squinted eyes and then turned away. "I-It's nothing." She pulled her knees up to her chest. Zoro sighed. "Mikita. You should know by now that you don't have to be afraid of telling me anything."

"I do this time," Mikita replied as she hid her face in her arms that were propped up on her knees. Zoro looked at her. "Please?" Mikita lifted her head up a little, but still didn't look his way. "I can't… Zoro, I've never been… in love. I have never been able to trust. It's all new to me and… I'm scared." She glanced at him and then stood up as she started to walk back inside. "I just… can't tell you." She then went back inside the cabin. Zoro looked at her as she walked towards the cabin. Just before she shut herself in he added. "I'm here when you're ready." Mikita paused as she heard him, her eyes beginning to water up. She glanced back at him and then hurried on inside quickly.

Mikita sat in the cabin wiping away her tears. "I hate this… Why am I so afraid?" She saw a picture of her father in her memory and she narrowed her eyes. She curled up in the crow's nest and lay there with her eyes open. "Zoro…" Zoro heard her saying his name, but he wasn't sure if he should answer or not. He didn't know if she was calling for him, or just saying his name in her sleep as he'd heard her do. Mikita had actually just been talking to herself, thinking out loud. She was tired of lying there as she sat up. "I can't just lay here and mope about it. I have to tell him, but…" Mikita closed her eyes tightly. "I can't." The words of her father rang in her ears. _'You thought you could take a shortcut. You're as foolish as your mother.'_ She took out her dagger and looked at it, soon throwing it at the wall as its blade stuck into the wall. This released some of her frustration.

Zoro had gotten off the ship and was practicing his Santouryu on trees. He closed his eyes, envisioning them falling before his blade. "Ittouryu Iai: Shishi Sonsen." And just as he had predicted the tree was felled.

Mikita walked outside and watched him as he attacked. She hesitated to speak, but then she said, "Zoro…" She was looking down at the ground. Zoro looked up. "Yeah?" Mikita had a saddened face, but then she smiled for some reason. "Let's go for a walk."

They walked along to the mountainous area where the waterfall was located. The place looked familiar. They had been there recently. Mikita was ahead of him as she walked along, searching for something. Zoro hadn't questioned the abruptness of Mikita's suggestion, nor did he comment on the fact she seemed to be looking for something. Mikita sniffed around and smiled. "I think I found it!" She slipped and fell at the hillside and landed in the secret place that they had found before, landing right on her butt roughly. "Ow… yep, this is the place all right." Zoro smirked as he came down. "Yep. You even landed the same way." Mikita smirked back at him. "Yep, I sure did."

Zoro smirked. "Why'd you want to come here?" Mikita's smirk disappeared as she looked down and twiddled her fingers. "Because… I wanted to… talk to you." Zoro sat down and looked at her. "I'm listening." Mikita made eye contact and said, "You see… the reason I'm so… The reason I can't…" She sighed. Trying to get her words out was harder than she had first imagined. Her heart was beating rapidly and she couldn't bring herself to any ease. "I'm just… afraid." Zoro hugged her. "You don't have to be."

"I know… but I can't seem to convince myself that… I can fully trust you." She held onto him in return. "My mother… my father… my heart is mislead." Zoro smiled. "I don't care how long it takes." Mikita looked into his eyes. "I need you… to help me see. I need to know that my heart can love... and that I can trust you." Zoro nodded. "I'll do whatever it takes." Mikita was still nervous as she put her hand on his shoulder. She pulled his shirt down a little ways to reveal the mark that she had given him, the mark that bound him as her mate. She looked at it as she stroked it carefully, and then she made eye contact once again. Her mind seemed to be reassured as she moved in to unite their lips together in a romantic kiss. Zoro kissed Mikita back gently, putting his arms around her slim waist. Feeling Zoro's gentle touch gave her more of a sense of trust as she gave the kiss more meaning, sliding her hand behind his neck.

It went on like that for a while before Zoro finally pulled away, however his eyes didn't leave Mikita's. Mikita stared into his eyes as the lights reflected her crystal hues. She was silent, still, waiting to see if he was willing to continue. She wasn't sure of her own feelings inside, but she had no choice but to find out. Her heart was beating rapidly, fearfully, excitedly; taking on so many emotions at once. Zoro then gave Mikita a quick love bite. "Do you trust me a bit more now?" Mikita gazed into his eyes passionately, with the look of a cat that has its eyes on its prey. She lightly nodded and blinked once slowly, her heart still overwhelmed with decisions inside. She knew what she had to do, but had it now become what she _wanted_ to do?

Zoro looked at her quizzically. "What are you thinking about?" Mikita smirked as she moved her face closer, speaking fervently. "What do _you_ think?" Zoro simply smirked at her. Mikita slid her lower lip against his gently and purred.

Zoro smiled at her. "Do you trust me enough to tell me what it was you were talking about earlier?" Mikita raised an eyebrow. "Dense enough, aren't you?" Mikita sighed as she stroked his cheek. "Pretty soon I may lose what trust and bravery I've gained if you keep this up," she teased. "So, if you're not feeling up to it…" She said as she looked up at the trees above them. Zoro sighed. "Alright, I won't butt in." Mikita looked at him strangely. "What the hell are you talking about?" She sighed. "You are so hopeless if you don't see my hints that are clear as day." She smacked her hand on her forehead as she lowered her head. "I was talking about my tribe's tradition." She pulled the sleeve of her shoulder down, revealing her bare shoulder. Unlike Zoro, she had no mark. She looked into his eyes again. "It wasn't completed, and I thought that I could take a shortcut without…" Her eyes acquired a shy, nervous look once more.

Zoro looked at her. "There are no such things as shortcuts. I could have told you that." Mikita pulled her shirt back up on her shoulder. "There's only one thing that's keeping me from being an A class demon now… and now that I think about it, I just don't think I can do it. I trust you, but…" She sighed. "Never mind. Just forget it." She prepared to stand up. Zoro shrugged. "Alright then." He had ideas, but he didn't voice them.

Mikita was about to stand up, but she paused. _What if I run into my father again soon? He's somewhere around here. If I don't complete my bond with Zoro… I won't be strong enough to defeat him._ She closed her eyes sadly, balling up her fists. Zoro looked at her. "Oi! I thought I told you I'd stay with you the next time you go up against your old man." Mikita sighed in aggravation as she looked up at him. "That won't be enough. I won't be prepared in time to fight him and… well now I feel like my whole trip to this spot was wasted. Thanks a lot," she stated sarcastically. She stood up and turned away from him. "Just when I thought I could get over my fear and let go of the past…"

Zoro looked at her. "What did I say?" Mikita glanced back at him dejectedly. "Nothing. It's not what you said. It's… never mind. I understand." Her eyes narrowed sadly as she looked away again, about to walk off. Zoro laced his fingers in hers. "Mikita..." Mikita turned to face him and made eye contact. She didn't say anything, but instead just stared silently and nervously. Zoro gave her a reassuring smile and kept walking with her.

Mikita stopped them and turned to face him. "You do know that I wasn't literally going to leave yet right?" She smirked. "It was only a bluff." Zoro smirked. "Yeah. But I'd like to avoid these kind of moments." Mikita kept her grin. "I knew it. You're more chicken than I am." An anime vein popped in Zoro's forehead. "What was that?" Mikita smirked, seeing as how she had gotten to his ego. "You heard me. Chicken shit." She gave him a taunting stare, waiting to see what he would do. Zoro grew anime fangs as he started snapping at Mikita. "Are you trying to pick a fight here?"

Mikita rolled her eyes and gently clawed his chest. "What's the matter?" She moved closer and whispered in his ear, "Afraid of a little intimacy?" Mikita had such a multi-personality. One minute she was trying to avoid any such actions. The next, she was suggesting them.

Zoro sweatdropped. "Well, if you'd stop changing your attitude midway, I could probably give you a straight answer." Mikita shrugged and looked at him casually. "Okay. So what do you say? Will you help me? You said you'd do whatever it takes." She smirked a little and then her expression returned to normal. "Like I said, I need you to show me that you love me." She sighed lightly. "Look. Don't worry about my nervousness. It doesn't matter. You see… you are my mate, but… I am not officially yours just yet." She looked into his eyes sweetly. "But I want to be. Besides, in a freaky way thanks to the retarded ways of my tribe, this will strengthen my spiritual energies because of the build of trust. I realize that now, and… I'm not as afraid anymore. I love you Zoro." She took a breath and then smirked. "So, you feeling up to it?"

Zoro looked at her. "Mikita. I love you too. If it will make you happy, I'll do whatever it takes." Mikita studied his expression. "You really don't want to do this do you? Believe me, I would have waited a little longer myself, but if I don't…" Zoro shook his head as he stepped closer to her. "I will do it. I only want to make you happy." Mikita still observed his expression. "That's not what I asked you. I asked you if _you_ want to do this, not if you wanted only to do what would make me happy." He nodded.

"Okay, because I was concerned about what you thought and I didn't want you to feel like I was making you do something you didn't want to do and…" Mikita babbled on nervously. Zoro pressed a finger to Mikita's lips. "It's fine. Don't worry about it." Mikita nodded. "Okay." She stared silently. She didn't want to make the first move, but she knew he didn't necessarily want to either. _Who knows how long we'll be standing here like this. _Mikita thought to herself as she internally sighed.

Zoro stared into Mikita's eyes. He didn't want to make the first move. He felt it was only fitting that she should. Mikita noticed the look in his eyes and sighed lightly. "Looks like it's up to me then, since you're being a chicken shit." She smirked and moved in for the kiss. She touched his cheek with her claws gently as she gave him a quick kiss. "A cute little chicken with green hair." She teased.

Zoro smirked. "I'll admit it to this subject." Mikita smirked back. "Really now?" Zoro smirked. "If it suits you." Mikita looked into his eyes. "To tell you the truth, which you already know, so am I… but as long as it's you, I know I can do anything." She then locked their lips together passionately and tugged playfully and softly at his shirt. Zoro smirked at her, as he kissed back.

Leona and the others were laughing and walking along toward the Merry, returning from town. "San-San! I cannot believe that you yelled out 'sexy mama' while I was up on stage! You embarrassed the hell out of me!" Robin smiled. "You need not get so upset. He said a comment to most of the women up there." Leona shrugged. "Yeah you're right." She looked around and sniffed the air. "Where's Mikita and Zoro?" Karasu shrugged her shoulders in response. "Dunno. Hey Luffy! I bet I could sing better than you!" She then began to sing high-pitched and out of tune. "Twinkle twinkle little star!" Leona held her ears. "Ow! Karasu!"

Meanwhile, Mikita was asleep next to Zoro in their secret place. Her eyes suddenly flew open as she stared at the treetops. "Tell me I was just dreaming that…" She glanced down at herself and noticed that she was completely nude. Her eyes widened as she snapped her vision back to being above her once more. "Nope. It definitely wasn't a dream."

"Mikita!" A familiar voice called out. Mikita's ear twitched. "Oh crap. It's Leona!" She threw Zoro's clothes at him and said, "Get up you perverted retard! We have to get back to the others!" Mikita hurried up to her feet, putting on her pants. She grabbed her shirt and was trying to put it on, but it was so tight that she couldn't get it on as easily. "Damn it! Why did Leona have to make me wear such a tight shirt? How in the hell did Zoro get this off of me anyway?" She heard Leona's calling voice getting closer, so she scrambled up the hill while putting on her shirt at the same time.

Leona was sniffing the air. "That's a peculiar smell…" She shrugged and kept searching. "Mikita! Where are you? Zoro? Hello?" Mikita was still having trouble with her shirt, though she already had her bra on. "Grrr…" Karasu spotted Mikita and pointed up to her. "Look! It's Mikita and she's shirtless!" Sanji came tripping in on the scene. "WHERE?" Leona sweatdropped. Mikita heard Karasu ratting her out and she slipped, tumbling back down the hill and landing with a thump on her stomach. "OOF!" Her shirt fell from the air and landed on her back.

As for Zoro... well... I doubt many have had the chance to see someone get dressed as quickly as he did at the instant he heard Leona's voice. "I'll give you a little time..." He climbed up out of the spot and greeted Leona. "Hey. So where did you go?" Leona gave him a strange look. "Where were _you_?" Karasu was still looking up at the mountain. "Well I _thought_ I saw Mikita without her shirt…" Mikita was still hiding and trying to get her tight shirt on. "Damn it… it's backwards."

Zoro sweatdropped. "You're back early." Leona studied his attitude. "What are you hiding? Where's Mikita?" Karasu exclaimed, "Yeah! Because when I thought I saw her, which was most likely an illusion…" Sanji lifted his head up from the ground. "Aww…" Then Karasu continued, "She gave me an idea!" Karasu ripped off her shirt. "FREEDOM!" This made Sanji jump up. "YAY FOR FREEDOM!" Karasu smiled proudly. "Yep, I've always wanted to support freedom. Come on Luffy! Support freedom with me!" Leona sweatdropped. "Karasu…"

Luffy threw off his shirt not having a clue what was going on. "FREEDOM!!!" Zoro sweatdropped. "Umm... Mikita's... training?" Leona raised an eyebrow. "With her shirt off?" Zoro put an arm behind his head. "What the hell are you talking about? Mikita doesn't have her shirt off. Then again with the skintight one you put on her, I can understand how Karasu made that mistake!" He was ignoring Luffy running around in the background with his own shirt off, waving his rubber limbs around. Karasu was running around with Luffy and flailing her own arms around the same way. "WEEEEEEEEE FREEDOM!" Sanji was following right behind Karasu and drooling, also cheering, "Yay for freedom! I LOVE freedom!"

Leona sighed at them and turned her attention back to Zoro. "You have a problem with how I dress your mate?" Zoro suddenly glared. "And if I do?" Leona looked at him surprised. "You do have a problem with the way I dressed her?" Karasu was skipping around with her shirt off still yet, until Leona clotheslined her. "Will you cut that out? Put your shirt back on!" Karasu got right back up and glared at her sister. "I'm supporting freedom so screw you!"

"OKAY!" Sanji yelled in the background. Leona glared at him. "Will you cut that out you pervert?" At that point, Mikita came walking in casually. "Hey. What did I miss?" Leona looked at Mikita and raised an eyebrow. "Why is your shirt inside out?" Mikita looked at her for a moment and blinked. "Because I got tired of all those damn rhinestones! They made me look too girly. Got a problem with it?" Leona sighed and rolled her eyes. "Fine I won't dress you up hot ever again." Mikita shrugged. "Fine with me." She looked at Karasu and Luffy strangely, her eye twitching. "What happened here? Did I miss something?" Zoro looked at her. "Don't. Even. Ask." Mikita quickly nodded. "Okay…"

Later that night on the ship, most of the crew went off to bed. Thank goodness Karasu and Luffy had put their shirts back on before going to bed. Otherwise conclusions would have been drawn. Mikita had her usual attire back, as well as her tail and ears. She was at her usual thinking place outside near the railing. She closed her eyes and felt the breeze blow through her hair. Zoro walked up next to her. "Do you regret it at all?" Mikita looked at him and smiled warmly. "No." Zoro smiled. "Same here." Mikita smirked. "I take it that you had fun then?" She smiled and looked back at her tail, swaying it around. "I know one thing. I sure missed my tail and ears too. I didn't feel like me without 'em." Zoro smirked. "Probably the same as me without the Wadou at my side."

Mikita smiled and nodded. "Yeah." She turned to face him. "Zoro… look." She pulled the sleeve of her shirt down from her shoulder, revealing the same mark of mates that she had given him. "I'm officially yours now. I finally feel like I belong." Zoro smiled. "So. I guess now you'll be strong enough to handle that bastard father of yours." Mikita smiled at him. "Yeah. I sure believe so." She embraced him sweetly. "Thank you Zoro. I never would have been able to trust anyone the way I trust you." Zoro embraced her right back. "I love you." Mikita nuzzled him. "I love you too."

He smiled. "See you in the morning. I think we're leaving the island tomorrow." Mikita looked up at him. "You don't have to say your good nights just yet. Not until we lie down silly." She took hold of his hand. Zoro smiled at her, kissing her on the cheek gently. Mikita lightly blushed as they walked on toward the crow's nest. As they snuggled up and prepared to sleep, Mikita rested her head on his chest and purred. "Good night sweetness." Zoro smiled back. "Night Mikita." He closed his eyes and fell asleep. Mikita rested her hand on his marked shoulder with a smile before closing her eyes.

--------

_Wow! Things certainly heated up in this chapter. _


	14. Chapter 14

Zoro woke up the next morning, feeling Mikita's familiar warmth beside him. He also felt a slight rocking movement. He looked over the side of the nest and noticed the island moving farther away. They'd set sail... and Robin and Nami were the only ones who were awake. Well, he was too but...

Mikita had him pinned as she slept there with him comfortably. Zoro looked at Mikita, who'd pinned him down, and smiled at her. Leona walked by and saw them, which made her smirk. "Aww, look at that. Miki's got you right where she wants you. How cute. Who knew she was such a clingy sleeper?" Leona smiled and walked away. "Hey Sanji!" Leona's loud voice woke Mikita up as she stretched and looked up at Zoro. She smiled sleepily through thinly opened eyes.

Zoro was glowering at Leona but turned around when he heard Mikita stir. Sanji came out of the sleeping quarters rubbing his eyes. "Yes, Leona-swan?" As Leona walked over and talked to Sanji, Mikita blinked her sleepy eyes and yawned. "Is something wrong Zoro?" Her voice was very light and somewhat cracky since she couldn't talk as clearly in the morning. Zoro looked at her. "No. Nothing's wrong."

"Oh. I thought I saw you glaring for a minute there," Mikita replied as she tried to sit up. However, she was too tired so she just laid her head right back down where it was, on his chest. "Too lazy. Not moving yet." She looked outside and noticed that they had set sail. "Oh, we left the island already?" She seemed a bit disappointed. Zoro nodded. "Yeah. And I was glaring at your sister." Mikita snickered a bit. "Oh. I should have suspected that." She sat herself up a bit to where she was looking down at him. "You know, I was hoping that we could have gotten that training in before we left the island, but I guess we'll have to wait until next time we land."

Zoro smirked. "Why do you say that? If you tell Ero-cook not to interfere, we can train on the ship." Mikita considered what he was saying. "True… All right. That may work as long as we don't tear up the floor, but for now…" She laid her head back down. "I'm going to laze around for a bit."

Luffy and Karasu were still being lazy as well as they were trying to wake up. Leona looked at them and of course she couldn't resist but to comment something about them. "Time to wake up lovebirds." Karasu looked at Leona strangely. "Leona, there are never any birds around when you say that. You're blind." Leona faceplanted.

Zoro rolled his eyes as he heard that comment. Luffy looked at Karasu. "Maybe she's going to turn us into birds! COOL! Can you actually do that?" Nami just stared. "Luffy..." Karasu smiled. "Yeah! I've always wanted to be a bird! Wait… no I haven't. I can already fly. Oh well." Karasu got up and stretched. "So where's breakfast?" Luffy poked Karasu. "But you don't have fluffy feathers." Nami now held her head in her hands. "And he's our captain?" When Luffy poked Karasu in the side, she squeaked and jumped. "Aaahh!" She then cleared her throat and tried to sound manly and tough. "I mean, achoo. What a sneeze." Luffy smirked and then started poking her more. Karasu jumped around and kept squeaking and giggling. She was extremely ticklish and she hated for it to show. "EEE HEE HEE! NO! AAAAHHHH!" Luffy still wasn't stopping; in fact he was doing it faster. Karasu fell on the floor and screamed out in laughter. "NO FAIR!"

Mikita watched them and smirked. "Entertaining." _It's a good thing that Zoro doesn't know I'm just as ticklish as Karasu._ Zoro looked at her and the look in her eye made him smirk. Then he poked Mikita in the side to see if she was just as ticklish as her sister. Mikita made a quick squeaking sound and then strangely she growled as she grabbed Zoro's wrists and pinned them above his head with a tight grip, bearing her fangs at him and growling. Leona saw Mikita's reaction and blinked. "Mikita's the weird one out of all of us. Tickling makes her mad. The last time I had her pinned down and tickling her, she liked to have killed me!" Zoro smirked. "Is that so..." Luffy wasn't stopping poking Karasu and the young dragon was still laughing up a storm.

Mikita saw the look in Zoro's eyes and said, "Do it and you'll regret it." She still had a firm grip on his wrists. Zoro smirked. "Will I?" Mikita bore her fangs into a snarl. Zoro started to try and pull his arms out of Mikita's grip. She fought back and kept her grip tightly as she kept him pinned there. "Oh no you don't."

Luffy was now using his rubber abilities to poke Karasu from a distance. Karasu was attempting to run from Luffy and escape the poking. Unfortunately this was difficult since Luffy was able to stretch his arms to any spot where Karasu could go. Zoro was smirking at Mikita. "Ready?" Mikita glared. "Don't you dare…" Leona smirked. "This should be quite interesting." Zoro planted a foot on the edge of the nest and then pushed off, dragging Mikita with him. He flipped in midair so that Mikita would go down underneath him.

Mikita was desperate not to be pinned down and tickled, so she squirmed to try and get away. She was almost free from his grip, but then they hit the ground and she was pinned. Mikita struggled and tried to break free. "Ugh! Let me go! Don't make me hurt you!" Leona just laughed. "How intimidating," she said sarcastically. Zoro started smirking as he started poking Mikita at tickle points, while pinning her with his body. Mikita laughed and growled as she switched the sounds around in intervals. She was still attempting to escape and every second that went by built up her aggravation, strength, and will to break free. She had even begun to squirm her way out from beneath him and he was much stronger and heavier than she was. Zoro could feel her moving out so he gripped her wrist with one hand and kept poking her with the other. Luffy looked at him, while poking Karasu. "Zoro? You too?"

Sanji looked at Leona with a mischievous glint in his eye. Leona's eyes widened. "Uhh… I'm not ticklish…" It was quite obvious that she was lying through her teeth. Sanji walked over to her. "Oh, then Leona-swan would not mind if I did this..." He started tickling her side playfully. Leona clamped her teeth together and tried to hold back her laughter. "No… I… don't." She then couldn't hold her laughter back and squeaked.

Mikita's strength increased even more along with her anger and she used her free hand to scratch at him in the chest and stomach while she wiggled and tried to get her other hand free. Sanji and Luffy were continuing with their tormenting attitudes. Chopper and Usopp were listening from inside the ship and to them it sounded like people were having spasms out there.

Zoro smirked. "Ready to get that spar underway?" Mikita stared him down competitively, and then she bent her legs around to his stomach and kicked him off. As he flew through the air and landed roughly, Mikita put her foot on his chest and had her Dragon Tail pointed to his throat. "Does that answer your question?" She smirked. Her speed and strength had increased due to more than one factor. Zoro pushed the dragon tail aside as he drew the Sandai Kitetsu. "Yeah."

Mikita removed her foot from his chest and flipped backwards, standing in a battle stance with her sword. She glanced at Sanji. "And don't interfere pervert." She stared at Zoro and smirked an evil smile. Luffy stopped poking Karasu to watch the fight.

Zoro smirked. "Your move." He shifted the Sandai to a defensive form. Mikita nodded. "All right." She launched a fire attack from her blade, and its size and power was twice as great, if not stronger, than before. Her attack headed for Zoro at an even greater speed. Zoro jumped up into the air to evade, then planted his feet against the mast of the ship and pushed off to accelerate. He slashed at Mikita coming at her from an upward angle. Mikita used her sword to block and she pushed him away as she slashed at him quickly once more, hoping to catch him off balance.

Ordinarily, she would have. However as he landed he drew out the Wadou Ichimounji and, while stabbing the Sandai into the ground to steady himself, he used the Wadou to parry. Mikita extended her weapon and wrapped it around the Sandai as she ripped it out of the ground beneath him. She scratched at his chest with her fiery-clawed free hand. Zoro blocked the claw with the Wadou, and then pulled on the Sandai to drag in Mikita. He attempted an elbow strike to her forehead. Mikita moved her head back in time before his elbow caused her much pain, though it still hit right on target. She jerked her Dragon Tail hard and took the Sandai from his grasp as it flew behind them and into the ship's floor. Mikita smirked. "Who says you can't teach an old wolf new tricks?" She wrapped the Dragon Tail around his leg and made each link burn with fire.

Zoro then drew the Yubashiri and placed both it, and Wadou Ichimounji next to the flame, igniting the blades. He ignored the pain then drew them up. "Yaki Takanami! (Burning Hawk Wave)" He made two slashes and sent a burning wind attack at Mikita. Literally, the wind was on fire. Mikita was engulfed in flames, but the flames around her soon sank into her body. "Jee, I really have to thank you Zoro. I now have the power to harness your power for my own. Plus, I'm half fire apparition, so it's my element." She smirked and tightened the Dragon Tail around his leg, making it penetrate the skin as it burned through his pants. "Having fun, my mate?"

Zoro smirked. "Hell yes." He formed a Nitouryu form now. "Shishijuu Ni Ponu Hou!" He sent two large blades of air at Mikita. Mikita just absorbed his attacks and jerked her Dragon Tail away from his leg. "Like I said, thanks for adding onto my power, dear loving mate." She was hinting toward the fact that since they were linked together, she had access to his powers. She used her Dragon Tail to send all the gusts of wind and fire that he had sent at her back to him all at once. The fiery tornado swirled toward him with immense speed.

Zoro was hit by the attack, and when it cleared he was bloody and burned, but didn't seem fazed. "Then try this!" He charged Mikita, knocking the Dragon Tail away and sheathing his swords. "Nitouryu Iai: Rashoumon!" He made two parallel slashes with such speed and power that it would've been able to slice an entire train car in half. And, as an Iai, it was about two to three times faster than a normal slash.

His attack hit her straight on, but she had turned sideways to prevent being slashed in the chest. Instead, the attack wounded her arm and blood splattered from it in large amounts. Mikita winced from the pain and looked at her arm, glaring at Zoro. She turned her angry stare to a smile as she healed her wound. "Impressive. You show me new things everyday." She flipped back and picked up his Sandai. "This might very well come in handy." She now had her Dragon Tail as well as his Sandai in her hands. "It's nice. I might just keep it." She smiled sneakily and prepared for him to come at her.

Zoro's eyes widened. "I wouldn't advise that Mikita." There was a serious tone in his voice. "Not unless you want to die. And not by me either." Mikita smirked. "And you think that this sword will turn on me? I am a part of you now." She became accustomed to the Sandai's powers as she felt the strangeness of it. "Nope, no harm here. So are you going to come at me or not?" Zoro sighed. "It won't work immediately. But that sword is cursed. And unlike me, you haven't actually broken it. Our link means nothing when it comes down to that sword." Mikita rolled her eyes. "Whatever you say." She stuck the sword back into the floor of the ship and held her Dragon Tail. "I'll do this the old fashioned way, with a little spice I might add." She sent a blast of energy at Zoro from each link in her Dragon Tail.

Zoro ducked the attack, lunging forwards. He grabbed onto the Sandai and at the same time tossing the Wadou up into his mouth. He rolled across the ground entering Santouryu stance. Little did Zoro know, he didn't escape the attack just yet. The blasts of energy from her Dragon Tail began tracking him, following his every move. "They respond to movement," Mikita stated as she smirked. Zoro started knocking the attacks aside with his swords in a rapid parrying movement. As the attacks were knocked away, they continued to come at him. They refused to give up until they came into contact with his body heat.

Zoro smirked and performed one of the classic maneuvers. He charged at Mikita, and then let the attacks follow him. The instant before the hit him he performed a matrix style dodge so that, with their reaction time, they wouldn't be able to turn before they hit Mikita instead. Mikita was hit with her attacks and they simply reformed into her body, recharging her spirit energy. It did hurt her a little bit in the process, but she ignored the pain of their impacts. "Thanks hun." She smiled sneakily. She was bound to be getting on his nerves by now. Zoro attempted to strike Mikita's gut with a kick and then slashed at her forehead with his mouth blade. Mikita backed away as she dodged these attacks and she threw flames from both hands. Ten fire blades flew toward him.

Zoro dodged them, racing at Mikita with a rapid slash attack. Mikita sighed as she rapidly blocked all of his advances. "Looks like I'll have to up the ante." She pushed him away with her Dragon Tail and then her body began to glow with her spiritual energy. Mikita smirked and said, "This will be fun. You like my voice? Well let's see how much you like it in Karasu's pitch." She began shouting high-pitched and a sound frequency hit his ears at a very irritating and distracting frequency. She stopped shouting and held her throat. "That's irritating. I don't see how Karasu can do that every day 24/7." She smirked at Zoro as the effects began to take place.

Zoro felt an irritating ring in his ears, however he ignored it as he attacked Mikita again with three slashes: one at her side, one at her legs, and one at her wrist. Mikita simply smiled evilly and allowed herself to be sliced. She peered into his eyes and a strange pulse was sent from her eyes to Zoro's.

Zoro staggered as the pain worsened. However he kept his ground, slashing as though the pain didn't bother him. Mikita just watched him with amusement, seeing as how his attacks missed. "What's the matter? Can't see clearly? Let me _help_ you!" She used her Dragon Tail and attempted to whip it around his legs, pulling on the weapon to trip him.

Zoro jumped over the attack. _I can't lose even a light battle like this! Not until I defeat Mihawk! _Mikita sent another sharp pulse to him. "No. No. No. Don't resist now." Zoro got his footing and held the blades both high and low, then lunged at her. "Tatsumaki!" He spun quickly, sending blades of wind along with his sword to slice her and hurl her high into the air. Mikita used this as he would, for an advantage. She twirled up into the air willingly and then pounced down at him with lightning speed. She smashed into him and pinned him down roughly, puncturing his chest with her claws. "You do know that I shouldn't be considered lower to you anymore right?" She smirked and sent more shocks of pain through to him as her eyes flashed red hues into his. Her eyes were mesmerizing so that he couldn't look away.

Actually, Zoro could. He turned his head. "Want to bet?" With a surprising burst of strength he hurled Mikita off of him and into the mast rather forcefully... and painfully. Mikita hit the mast and the breath was taken from her momentarily. She got back up and leered at him. "You had better not be putting me down!" She ran at him with her incredibly fast speed and punched him across the face as hard as she could. Her power was fueled even greater due to her anger. Zoro actually had pretty strong competition now, especially since he had added that last comment. Never anger an A class demon, especially if that demon is your mate.

Zoro didn't even flinch as she hit him, however he returned the favor by slamming his sword hilt into her gut. This wasn't very smart. Mikita's eyes began to glow a bright crimson hue and she began slashing him numerous times with deep wounds. "You take that back you ungrateful insensitive bastard!" Mikita was seriously angry with him now as she was furiously attacking.

Zoro was actually parrying each blow. "Oh, so you've finally gotten serious have you?" He performed a knee strike at her, followed by a slash in on both sides of her, and at her chest with his third blade. Mikita didn't dodge them to a large extent. Instead, her eyes began to glow brighter and she transformed into a brown wolf. She was now able to access her truest wolf form as she lunged at him with incomprehensible speed. She was nearly invisible as she lunged and tore at his leg viciously with her fangs, dragging him down to the ground. Zoro was dragged to the ground, where he gripped the Yubashiri and Sandai Kitetsu in reverse grip and thrusted at both her shoulders.

One of the swords penetrated her shoulder near her binding mark and she yelped as she leaped back. She stared at him for a moment, tears forming in her wolf eyes. She appeared as if she were hurt inside, and yet she was appearing quite murderous as she focused her sight on a vital point on his neck. Was she actually planning to kill him? What had come over her? Zoro got up on his knees and then to his feet, crossing his arms over his chest. Mikita lunged at him, aiming for a vital point in his neck. Her actions were now uncontrollable and her yokai self had been angered. Zoro performed his asterix form attack. "Oni Giri!" He wasn't aiming to kill Mikita though so he didn't aim at her vital points. He planned to stun Mikita with this attack.

Unlike the other times she had encountered this attack, she dodged it this time with no troubles. She roared from behind him and slammed into him, taking him down and digging her large claws into his back while biting into his shoulder near his mark. It touched the edge of the mark and something in Mikita snapped her back. She removed her fangs and her eyes watered up; his blood was dripping from her fangs. Her eyes turned back to their crystal blue color and she got off of him, running into the cabin while still in her wolf form.

Leona had seen this and she watched her run off sadly. "Mikita…" Zoro looked as she left. "What was that all about?" Leona walked out to where Zoro was. "Since she now has access to her full yokai form, she will have to learn to control that form without letting it take over." Leona gave him a solemn stare. "You're the one that upset her. She took your words seriously and that triggered her inner anger." Leona looked back at the cabin, yet she couldn't see where Mikita had gone. "When she saw the mark on your shoulder and how she almost destroyed it, she snapped back to her senses and then ran off before causing you any real harm."

Zoro looked at Leona. "What's so important? Can't another mark just like it be made?" Leona looked at him seriously. "Once the mark of one mate is ruined, it signifies the other's desire for a separation. Divorce, in other words. Then both marks would disappear. That's the last thing Mikita wanted. We'll just have to help her work with this form and help her control it. In the meantime, don't put her down like the dumbass that you are. Mikita didn't mean that you were below her. She meant that she was equal to you now that you two are mates. Whether you will admit it or not, Mikita had the strength to kill you just then, but she didn't." Leona turned and walked back inside the cabin. Zoro looked at Leona. "No. Only one person has the strength to kill me." He walked off and climbed up to the bird's nest. Leona looked back at him and sighed. "He's so hopeless." Zoro sent a dark glare at Leona.

After awhile, another island came into sight. This one was unpopulated, and small, but it had lots of food on it. So, they decided to land on it. Before long, the ship landed at the side of the island and dropped anchor. Nami gathered everyone on deck. "So, let's go through our usual routine. We spend a few hours looking around, and gathering supplies before meeting back alright?" Leona nodded. "All right." Mikita silently walked off past Zoro and onto the island. Leona saw Mikita and then glared at Zoro. "Didn't you talk to her last night?" Zoro gave Leona a look that answered her question straight out. Leona shook her head at him. "You're a jerk, you know that? It wasn't her fault. It was your risk, your slip of words." She walked off alongside Sanji, ignoring Zoro. The swordsman glared at her. "I said nothing I wouldn't say to an equal."

Leona and the others were already gone and had moved along their separate ways. Zoro growled angrily then walked back to the mast, leaning against it and falling asleep. Before long, a figure was sitting in front of him, watching him sleep. Zoro didn't realize any of this was going on. For one, he was asleep, and also, he was too far away anyways. A gentle hand stroked his cheek. Zoro opened an eye and looked out. He saw Mikita standing there. "Hmm? What are you doing here? Didn't you go out?" Mikita looked at him sadly. "I couldn't go, not while knowing that you were mad at me. I didn't want to end up losing my control even more and…" She embraced him. "I'm so sorry for whatever happened Zoro. Please don't be mad at me." She was about to cry.

Zoro looked surprised, but slid his arm around her. "It's fine. I'm not mad at you." Mikita jabbed her claws into his back and they were glowing a strange green color. "You should be," she said in two voices at once. Zoro's eyes widened for a moment as he looked at her, confused. "Mikita...?" The one that had deceived him changed her voice around to its normal tone. "Think again lover boy. Your mate is occupied. She's about to face her death, just as you are."

The real Mikita was walking along a trail alone. "It was his fault that I got that out of control. He never should have put me down like that… then again, I may have mistook what he said." Mikita sighed and looked back to the direction of the Merry. "I should go apologize to him."

"You won't get the chance," a familiar voice said from behind her. She turned around and found out that she was facing her father. "It's you again. Why in the hell are you following me? Can't you just leave me be?" Tsuyoku smirked. "There's no way I'm passing up the strength that you have in that little body of yours now. I sense that you are now an A class demon. So, you truly do love that dying human." Mikita looked at him strangely. "Dying? What did you do to him?" She glared at him, demanding an answer. Tsuyoku just shrugged. "Don't ask me. See for yourself." He made an orb that floated in the air and it showed her a screen that allowed her to see what was happening to him at the Merry. She saw a woman that looked just like her digging her poisonous claws into his back. "ZORO!"

Tsuyoku laughed. "He cannot hear you." Mikita glared at Tsuyoku. "You'll pay for this!" She unsheathed her Dragon Tail and prepared to fight.

Zoro barrel rolled away, feeling his flesh get scorched by the attack. "What did you do to Mikita?" Suddenly he realized that when he'd rolled the only sword he'd grabbed from the mast had been the Wadou. Yubashiri and Sandai Kitetsu were still where he had been, and out of his reach. The imposter smirked. "Well. Well. I bet you feel bad now for ruining your lover's heart. No matter. It will all be over soon enough for both of you." She also created an orb for Zoro to see what was happening to Mikita. She was holding her sword and preparing to fight her father. Zoro's eyes widened and he ran to dash off the ship.

The imposter of Mikita blocked him. "Don't think it's going to be that easy. You have no choice but to stand by and watch her die while the poison kills you as well."

Mikita sent a great amount of her spiritual energy toward Tsuyoku, but he dodged it all too swiftly as he smirked. "Well. Well. Maybe I underestimated you after all." He ran at her and sliced at her with a pointed arm like a sword. Mikita chopped off part of his sword-like arm, but it merely regenerated. "No matter how strong you are dearie, I will always overpower you." Mikita glared. "We'll see about that." She thrusted at his chest with her sword quickly and it penetrated his chest, right through the heart. Mikita smirked. "That was almost too easy."

Suddenly, Tsuyoku's body faded and Mikita felt his hands on her throat from behind. "Don't you just love clones and copies?" He emitted a strange light into her and she winced. He then threw her through the air. Mikita flipped and landed on her feet, glaring at him. "That was it? You're pathetic." Tsuyoku smirked. "Am I? You're the one that only has three minutes left to live." He made the orb show up 3:00 and Mikita gasped. "The Life Bomb."

Tsuyoku stared evilly into her eyes. "Indeed. Every second closer to your death will mean more pain and suffering for you, and it will also mean another step closer to my victory. Once that last second ends, which is the most painful by the way, I will have all your power." He unsheathed a katana that made a mirage of looking like it had three spirit blades. "Oh and your boyfriend is dying as well," he stated casually and quickly without care as he charged at Mikita. The timer of Mikita's life began the countdown. 2:99… 2:88… 2:77…

Zoro began slashing viciously at the fake Mikita to get her out of the way. The imposter smirked as his attacks went right through her as if she were a ghost. "Nice try, but you're not going anywhere, and you're certainly not going to succeed in killing me." She blew him back by an unknown strong force.

Mikita's life was slowly ticking away in the meantime. 2:44… 2:43… Mikita's vision began to blur and her head started to hurt lightly, but this was nothing… yet. Mikita slashed at Tsuyoku with her sword and slashed him across the chest. Of course, it just healed over almost instantly. Mikita growled at him. "You bastard! I hate you! You have ruined my life!" Tsuyoku smirked. "You're welcome. You can thank me later." He slashed at her again and she blocked with her Dragon Tail. She extended it, ignoring her pains and setbacks, and wrapped the Dragon Tail around his waist. She growled and pulled on it as her spiritual energy lit up and his body was chopped in half.

A strange necklace began to glow around Tsuyoku's neck. The pendant began to shine a bright red hue and his body regenerated. Mikita smirked. "So that's where all your power is kept. How cliché is that? Of course all I can see is a red blur of light, but that's all I need." Mikita's spiritual energy was glowing from each link in her Dragon Tail as she sent her attacks toward her father in an attempt to break the stone on his necklace that held his power and evil aura. Tsuyoku teleported into a tree and the attacks followed him, attracting to the aura in his necklace. He put up a barrier around him as her spirit attacks went straight for it. The attacks were dissipated and Mikita gasped. "No way…" 2:01… 2:00… 1:99… Her time was still running out and the effects that she felt were worsening as she clenched her teeth. _I will not lose._

Zoro started staggering as the poison started to take effect. _I've got one shot at this... I need to focus..._ He sheathed the Wadou and listened. There it was. _I can hear it... the breath of her body... Now I know how to strike..._ He held the sheathed vertically and set it behind his head. "Ittouryu Iai: Shishi Sonsen." He moved like a blur, releasing the blade from its sheath as slashing at his opponent. Unlike his previous slashes this one _would_ inflict damage on her, and fairly severe damage at that. Zoro's attack struck effectively as the imposter's body disappeared. However, more of the imposter Mikitas appeared around him. "Don't think that he only sent one of us," the five imposters stated at once.

Mikita staggered from the impact that her sword had with Tsuyoku's. She was getting weaker and her time was running out fast. She shook her head and slashed at him. Tsuyoku blocked this rather easily and tripped her with his sword. Mikita didn't see this attack coming, so she was taken down as she fell to the ground. As Tsuyoku came down at her, she kicked up with both legs and struck his gut. Her toe claws also penetrated his stomach as he gasped. His blood trickled down her legs and she kicked him so that he was thrown a little ways up into the air. However, he simply floated back down and landed with ease. "Hn. You call yourself an A class demon? You're worthless." Mikita stood up shakily, her vision giving out on her even more. _Looks like I'll have to use my ears._ She closed her eyes and concentrated on the environment around her, although her headache was getting harder for her to handle.

1:23… 1:22… 1:21… Mikita's time was cut in half as she tried to ignore the suffering to attack her father. She was now more determined than ever to defeat him. Tsuyoku leered at her. "Give it up already." He ran at her and sent a large ice attack at her. Mikita listened to the attack and swiftly struck at the right moment to split the large ice ball. Mikita's ears picked up the sound of the ice breaking and she gasped. _Ice? Since when can he use ice attacks? He's not an ice apparition._ As she had split the ice, it broke into more than thirty pointed pieces of ice and they all continued to charge at her as they sliced at her skin. Mikita shouted out as each penetration fought against her firepowers and caused her a great deal of pain. She wasn't very tolerable of the cold. 1:01… 1:00… 99… Only seconds remained of Mikita's life, though she was desperately hanging in there.

Now Zoro was pissed. He dived over, grabbing his other two swords and placing them in his mouth and hands, casting the sheaths away. "Get out of the way! If you don't want to die!" The blades seemed to start to bend, even though Zoro's hands weren't moving. He crossed the blades over his chest. The Mikita imposters began to circle Zoro. Zoro charged forwards. "Ebima Yonezu Oni Giri!" It was similar to his regular Demon Slash, only this time, the attack radius was much wider. However, he didn't pause to see if he'd killed the imposters, instead he jumped straight off the ship and charged for the forest.

59… 58… 57… It was becoming increasingly difficult for Mikita to hang on to her life and keep up her concentration. Her head throbbed like a migraine. Her vision was useless. She was bleeding all over and weak. However, she struggled back up to her feet. "I can not lose to you… I will not!" At a great risk, she created a tornado with a great amount of her spiritual energy, as well as some of the powers that she had acquired from Zoro. Power wasn't the only thing she had acquired from him. She had also acquired a strong will to fight and carry on, no matter what. She launched her attack and it headed quickly for Tsuyoku. He didn't have time to react to this as the attack struck true, hurling him into the air and cutting him up greatly.

Tsuyoku was blown into a tree as he rammed into it and fell to the ground. Mikita had actually managed to inflict damage to him, but it wasn't as easy for her, for this only made her weaker due to loss of spiritual energy. 32… 31… 30 seconds remained and Mikita strained to see if she had destroyed him or not. Her breathing was narrow and her whole body was in pain at this point, throbbing. Tsuyoku struggled to his feet and glared at Mikita, his body greatly cut up. However, unlike what Mikita was planning, his necklace went undamaged as he held onto it tightly with his hand. He released it and smirked. "Impressive, but it's just not enough I'm afraid."

Mikita's eyes widened in surprise. Her legs were shaking beneath her. 19… 18… 17… Mikita moaned in pain and held onto her chest. She heaved in quick breaths and tried to focus through all her pain and suffering. She tried to keep up with Tsuyoku's location, but he soon began moving all around her at the speed of light. He laughed evilly as she fell to her knees. 10… 9… 8… Her life was so close to slipping away and Tsuyoku knew it as he smirked evilly with his victory as he saw her tears. "You're going down." He charged at Mikita and attempted to harm her even worse than the pain she was already enduring. 3…2…1… Mikita was on her last second, but with the last ounce of her energy she slashed ahead of her with her Dragon Tail.

The sound of glass shattering with the classic shing effect filled the air softly. Mikita was lucky enough to where her attack had shattered his pendant. Tsuyoku stopped and gasped, seeing Mikita's smirk through her fangs as his last sight. "You're going down with me," Mikita softly forced out as she dropped her Dragon Tail. Tsuyoku's body began to disappear. He growled and yelled out angrily as he faded away forever. The timer on the orb was frozen on one second as it shattered, and Mikita fell forward to the ground unconscious. Was she too late to stop it before her time was up?


	15. Chapter 15

Zoro sprinted through the forest, slashing through anything in his way. _Where are you Mikita...?_ In the distance he noticed a slumped figure on the ground. "Mikita!" As he ran towards her he staggered, as the poison in his veins grew stronger. He almost collapsed a few times but made it to her. "Mikita!"

Mikita didn't respond. Her body lay there motionless. Zoro started shaking Mikita's shoulders trying to wake her. "Mikita!" Still, she gave no response. Zoro continued to shake Mikita as much as he could. Finally though, the poison in his veins took over and he passed out.

The pieces of the broken pendant were carried into the air by an unknown force as they disappeared from sight.

Once Zoro's eyes began to open, Leona smiled at him. He was once again on the Merry. "Oh good. You're awake." Zoro sat bolt upright. "Where's Mikita?" Leona's smile went to a frown as she looked at him, and then directed her sight down at the floor of the ship. She took a breath and looked at him once more. "You need to rest. Chopper gave you an antidote to the poison, so you should be all right." Zoro glared. "Leona. Where is she?" Leona looked at him sadly, seeing how serious he was about wanting to see Mikita. She started walking. "This way." Zoro got up and followed Leona. He was starting to worry about Mikita now.

Leona walked toward the cabin that Mikita was in. Karasu, Luffy, Sanji, and all the others were gathered around the door. Leona looked at Karasu as if to ask her a question. Karasu responded by shaking her head sadly with her head lowered. Leona's eyes narrowed gloomily and she looked at Zoro with an unreadable expression. Zoro glared. "Mikita's in there?" Leona simply nodded. Zoro pushed his way through the other Strawhats to the door. Most of them moved out of the way and let him through.

As he entered the room, sure enough Mikita was there. She was lying in the bed that they had made for her and she had such a lifeless expression on her face. Her skin was toned with an odd color as she lay there on her back. Zoro stared at her. "Mikita?" He walked over to her gently taking her hand and feeling it deathly cold. Leona and Karasu watched their sister and Zoro for a moment through the door before they decided to close it and give him privacy with her.

Zoro kneeled next to Mikita, not letting go of her hand. He couldn't accept it. He looked at the mark on her neck, the mark that linked him to her. Mikita's expression seemed so calm, her eyes relaxed shut. Her mouth was also slightly opened and her lips seemed slightly blue in color among their natural pinkish hue. Zoro gently reached up to touch Mikita's cheek. He felt her for a pulse. Her skin was so cold to the touch and she hadn't budged. Zoro still didn't leave her side. He still had his hand on her neck, as if hoping he would feel her pulse.

After awhile, Chopper came into the room. "Zoro... you're injured too. You should probably try and get some rest." Zoro sent one look at Chopper, and that one look was enough to send the reindeer scurrying away like a scared rabbit.

Zoro stayed at Mikita's side for much longer. He couldn't admit to himself that she might not wake up. He looked at her sadly. "I'm sorry Mikita... I should have been there with you. Don't die on me yet." He gently touched the mark on her neck that marked her as his. Mikita's expression remained the same. No part of her made any slight movement. Her body was still stiffened out, yet her fingers were still movable as he moved his hand around hers. Zoro finally couldn't deny his need for sleep any longer and he fell asleep at Mikita's side.

After a while, Mikita's eyes finally twitched and opened slightly. She made a noise of discomfort as she began to shiver. Chopper walked into the room and saw Zoro sleeping next to Mikita. He noticed Mikita stirring. "Ah. Mikita! You're finally awake!" Her teeth were clicking together and she seemed to be shivering. All except for her hand, the one that Zoro was holding onto. She smiled as her body nearly convulsed from the coldness, gently wrapping her fingers around his hand. She took her other trembling hand and touched his cheek gently.

Chopper quickly threw a few more blankets on top of Mikita. Zoro continued to sleep, unaware that she'd woken. Mikita nodded at Chopper as thanks and looked at Zoro again. She ran her fingers through his hair. Zoro's eyes started to open. He looked up at Mikita and smiled. "Finally woke up huh?" Mikita nodded shakily. "Yes… but I'm a little… cold. I feel like I nearly died or something." Zoro smiled. "You did." He stroked her hair gently. Mikita shivered so hard that she seemed to nearly convulse. "Zoro… I'm sorry." Zoro moved up and held her gently. "It's alright. Everything's going to be fine." Mikita shivered as she held onto him, resting her head against the mark on his shoulder near his neck. She licked the mark gently and smiled with a light purr. "I won't leave you." Zoro nodded. "Same here."

Chopper started feeling very awkward being in the room so he left very hastily. Mikita laughed lightly at Chopper and looked into Zoro's eyes. "You look sleepy. If you want to lay here with me, I don't mind. I would actually appreciate it," she said as her body trembled again. "It's only at the risk of being called a perverted retard." Mikita smirked and moved over to give him room next to her. Zoro sighed and climbed in next to Mikita. She snickered and cuddled up to him, absorbing his body heat. "Of course… I'm not going to call you that right now." She nuzzled his neck and rested her head on his shoulder. Zoro smiled as he rested his head against hers. "You do that." He commented in a tone that suggested he didn't give a shit what she called him. Mikita still shivered a bit as she commented, "Okay then." Her tone was the same as his. She then closed her eyes.

Leona and Karasu entered the room. "Is Mikita all right?" Leona asked quietly. Mikita opened one eye and looked at them. "I'm fine." Karasu smiled. "Yay!" Leona put a finger over her own mouth and looked at Karasu. "Ssshh. Not so loud. I'm sure Miki doesn't need to hear your loud mouth right now." Karasu stuck her tongue out at Leona. "Well she doesn't need to hear your big mouth either." Leona sighed and pulled Karasu out of the room with her. "We'll check up on you two later." The door closed behind them.

Zoro placed his arm around Mikita. "I'm glad you're alright." Mikita held him tighter. "I'm glad you are too. I know you wouldn't have wanted to die before facing Mihawk." She then smiled lightly. "You know, I have learned a lot from you." He looked at her. "Like what?"

"You taught me that the will in my heart to carry on my dream really can make a big difference. In turn, I was able to control my yokai half and defeat my father. I just wish I could have controlled it before. If I hadn't taken your words so seriously…" Mikita's tone saddened. Zoro smiled. "It's no problem." Mikita fiddled with the collar of his shirt while in thought. "Zoro, do you think my mother would be proud of me?" Zoro looked at her and nodded. "Of course she would." Mikita smiled at him. "Thanks." She kissed him gently on the lips and snuggled up to him. "And don't forget… I will always love you, no matter how our fights may go. Even when it's not my fault, I'll still feel guilty." Zoro nodded. "Same here." He closed his eyes, feeling Mikita's warmth next to him. Mikita raised an eyebrow. "You sure say that a lot… 'Same here.'" Zoro sighed. "Fine then. I love you too. Is that better?" Mikita reacted a bit sadly. "Well not if you don't want to say it. I didn't mean you had to." She sighed as she closed her eyes. "I know you love me anyway." Zoro smiled. "I'll say it anyways." He'd closed his eyes again. Mikita smiled as she closed her eyes as well.

A few hours later, Mikita was already up and moving around. Leona walked over to her. "Mikita, what are you doing up? You need to rest." Mikita looked at her and shrugged. "I'm fine. Why laze around when I could be training? Hmm?" Leona sighed. "Which reminds me," Mikita said as she faced Leona. "Could you teach me more about your invisibility tricks? I know how to turn objects invisible, but not myself yet." Leona nodded. "Sure, if you're sure that your body has had enough time to recuperate from all that." Mikita sighed. "You worry too much."

Zoro was still asleep. Like both Leona and Chopper had told him, he needed rest, and he hadn't gotten enough to fully recover from the poison. Mikita shouldn't have been up either, but Zoro didn't even know that she had gotten up. Otherwise, he would have made her stay and rest longer. Mikita knew this, and she was glad to have snuck away so quietly. "So what do I do?" She asked Leona. Leona rolled her eyes. "Okay first, you have to focus your spirit energy and your mind on being invisible." Mikita nodded and closed her eyes, trying to focus. She remained standing there and concentrating for a minute, but she couldn't make anything happen. "It's not working."

"That's probably because you didn't give your spiritual energy enough time to regenerate." Leona replied. Mikita glared at Leona. "I'm not a weakling. I can do it." Leona looked at her flatly. "I didn't say you were a weakling." Mikita looked at her seriously. "Good, then shut up and let me concentrate." Leona glared at her sister's rudeness. She watched her trying harder and sighed. "Look. Try to turn an object invisible for practice first." Leona took off her bracelet and laid it on the ground. Mikita tried to make it turn invisible, but she couldn't even muster up the energy to do that. Leona became more serious. "Mikita, go rest up for a while longer. You know you need to." Mikita still didn't listen to her sister. "I can do this, so butt out." She concentrated all her energy and her body began to flicker transparency.

Leona looked at her with surprise. "You're doing it. Good job." _She's still too weak. If she tries this for too much longer… _Mikita lost concentration as her body returned to normal and she fell to her knees. Leona ran over to her. "See? I told you. You don't just get up and train after something like that. Just imagine if Zoro knew you were up and pushing your luck like this." Mikita stood up, which was a bit hard for her. "Fine. I'll go lay back down, but don't mention this to Zoro." She went back toward the cabin and Leona looked at her strangely. _What's with her? What really happened to her out there? _

Usopp walked up to Leona. "What was that all about?" Leona looked at him and shrugged. "I really don't know for sure, but I think it had something to do with what Zoro said to her yesterday when they were training." Usopp shrugged as he walked off. "Zoro says things like that all the time though." Leona watched him walk away. _I know he does, but Mikita must have taken it personally. _

Mikita went back to where Zoro was resting and she crawled into the bed next to him quietly and carefully, not to wake him. Mikita relaxed on her back next to him and stared up at the ceiling. _I know I shouldn't be trying too much right now, but something still isn't right. I feel like it's not over just yet. Plus, I can't allow myself to be nothing when compared to sparring with Zoro. I could have done better… and I will do better. I'm an A class demon and I have to start showing it. _

Zoro opened an eye. "Something wrong Mikita?" Mikita looked at him. "Huh? Oh. No, nothing's wrong. Just thinking like I usually do." She smiled and closed her eyes. "So how are you feeling?" She asked, evading the subject. He looked at her. "Fine actually." Mikita grinned while keeping her eyes closed and aiming her face upwards toward the ceiling. "That's good."

Zoro looked at her. "What is it?" Mikita looked at him questioningly. "What is what?" Zoro sighed. "Something's wrong. You're looking away from me deliberately." Mikita smirked at him. "Oh so you think you know me that well, do you?" Zoro smirked. "Yep." Mikita just grinned slyly and looked upwards, closing her eyes back. "I'm sure you do," she stated sarcastically in a way. Zoro looked at her. "So what are you hiding?" Mikita kept her eyes closed with a smirk. "Who said I was hiding anything?" He glared. "I can tell."

Mikita sat up and hovered over him. "So, you want to know what's on my mind, do you?" She smiled with one eyebrow elevated. Zoro simply nodded his head. Mikita smirked. "Too bad." Zoro smirked. "Oh well. I guess that means I can't tell you my secret." Mikita raised an eyebrow. "And what is that? That you're a perverted retard? Oh but wait! That's not a secret now is it?" She smiled sneakily as she tickled his ear with her claw lightly. Zoro grinned. "You'll never know, unless you tell me yours." Mikita rolled her eyes and laid back down next to him. "Zoro, you have no secret. Your bluffs mean nothing." Zoro smirked. "Well, I guess you'll never know." Mikita smirked. "Guess not..." Zoro grinned at her and pulled an arm around her.

"If you think seducing me is going to work, think again," Mikita responded. Zoro smirked. "Who said anything about seducing you? That's what Robin and Ero-cook do. Not me." Mikita raised an eyebrow at him. "Then what's your objective?" Zoro shrugged. "Nothing really." Mikita grinned evilly. "You're running out of methods of persuasion." Zoro seemed to sulk a bit. "Fine then." He let go of Mikita and rolled to the other side of the bed.

Mikita sighed, but then she smiled sneakily as she moved closer to him. "Zorrie-Kins…" Zoro didn't look back at her. "Yes?" Mikita inched closer to the side of his face. "You know I love you, right?" She kissed his neck tenderly and moved her hand through his hair. Zoro had a triumphant smirk on his face, but he hid it from Mikita, replacing it with his usual look. "Yeah, I know." She turned his face to look at her. "Of course you do." She smirked and locked their lips passionately, penetrating through his mouth with her tongue as she French kissed him romantically. Zoro kissed back passionately, not letting anything betray the triumphant feeling he was feeling now.

Mikita sat on top of him as he rolled over on his back. She ran her claws down his sides slowly while keeping the kiss just as strong. Zoro smirked, folding his arms around Mikita and intensifying the kiss. Mikita made a low moaning sound as she felt his arms caressing her. She was becoming carried away in her own diversion.

Karasu walked in and said, "Hey Miki. Would you like some…?" She blinked when she saw the current situation. "Get a room! Wait… you _are_ in a room. Ah whatever." Karasu walked back out with her cheesecake as she shut the door back.

Mikita looked over at Karasu and then back down at Zoro. "So much for that huh?" She smirked and lay back down next to him. Zoro smirked. "So much for what?" Mikita shrugged. "You tell me." Zoro smirked. "Oh, screw it." He pressed his lips against hers. Mikita kissed back and withdrew for a moment. "You wouldn't happen to be thinking pervertedly would you?" She grinned slyly while playing with the hem of his shirt. Zoro smirked. "Not unless you want me to." Mikita raised an eyebrow with a smile as she was underneath him. "How did I know that one time would have you begging for more?" Zoro smirked. "It's up to you. Should I continue?"

Mikita smirked as she pushed him off and stood up. "Do as you please, but first… you'll have to catch me!" Mikita ran out of the Merry and the wind of her speed blew Leona's hair. "Where's she off to?"

"TRAINING!" Mikita yelled back at Leona before disappearing. Zoro got out of bed, slid his swords into his belt and then charged out after Mikita. Leona watched them run off and she sighed. "They never even give themselves time to recuperate."

Mikita ran toward the top of a hill, slowing down purposely so that he could catch up to her. She stopped midway and smirked back at him. "Better hurry up!" Once she noticed that he was closer to her, she continued up the hill laughing. Zoro kept on charging after her. He wasn't as fast as she was, but he had more stamina, so he could keep running full power longer than she could.

Mikita began to slow down once she reached the top of the hill, but this time it wasn't purposely. She was still running low on spiritual energy from the battle, so she was panting rather strongly as she paused briefly. Zoro came to the top of the hill only moments after Mikita and started coming down towards her. Mikita was still trying to catch a deeper breath as she ran, and when she looked back he was right behind her. "Oh shit!" She laughed and tried to keep running. Zoro smirked. "You can't keep running forever." He then jumped, landing almost directly behind Mikita.

She couldn't keep going any further as she ended up captured. They tumbled down the hill into a meadow and Mikita ended up being slammed against the ground underneath him. Tall flowers and plants surrounded them and they were practically in the middle of nowhere. She tried to laugh between exhausted breaths. "All right… okay… you caught me." She smirked and took a deep breath. Her throat was sore and dry from all the persevering, but she ignored it and didn't let it show. "Your choice. You've got me right where you want me. Proceed with caution," she teased. Zoro smirked. "Fair enough." He locked lips with her. She returned the kiss as she purred and crept her hands delicately along his back, giving in to his desires.

Meanwhile on the Merry, Karasu and Luffy were competing to see who could make the craziest faces. Karasu made a goofy face as she stretched out her cheeks and stuck her tongue out. Luffy simply pulled out his cheek. A lot. As in, his entire arms length. Karasu busted out in hysterical laughter and Leona leered at her. "Would you two lovebirds keep it down? Jeez!" She walked off and Karasu rolled her eyes. _Lovebirds… she's such a freak. Like I'll ever end up with Luffy… although I do spend a lot of time with him. _Karasu thought about it for a moment and asked, "Luffy, do you like me?" Luffy grinned. "Of course Karasu! You're a really good friend!" Karasu continued to look at him. "Have you ever thought of me as more than a friend?" She chose not to read his mind. She wanted to see what he would tell her. Luffy grinned again. "Of course! You're a great rival too!" Karasu sighed. "No I meant… never mind. I know how to find out!" She then surprised him with a kiss. She held her lips there to see what she would feel.

Luffy hadn't ever had this occur before, so it surprised him. However he waited for a moment before pulling away. "What was that about?" Karasu sat there for a moment and blinked. "Definitely not what I expected. I think we have more of a brotherly and sisterly bond… and that means I proved Leona wrong! I'm gonna go rub it in her face!" Karasu jumped up and ran off to find Leona.

Meanwhile in the meadow, Mikita and Zoro had been intimate for quite some time. Zoro had Mikita to where she couldn't hardly breathe anymore. She pulled away from a deep kiss and looked up at him while trying to catch her breath. "Don't you think you've exhausted me enough for one day?" She smirked and rested her hands on his bare shoulders. Zoro smirked. "Sure. If you're that weak..." He knew comments like that got to Mikita, so he used them in cases like this. Mikita raised an eyebrow, still panting. "I am not weak…" Zoro smirked. "Could've fooled me." Mikita showed her fangs. "Bring it on pervert." Zoro smirked. "Fine by me," he replied as he forced another kiss to her lips.

As we return to the Merry, Luffy was joining in with Karasu at rubbing facts into her face. Facts that he didn't even understand. "I proved you wrong! Haha!" Karasu exclaimed as she got up in Leona's face. Leona blinked. "Well okay. At least you gave me the credit of trying my advice to see if it was right or not." Karasu wiggled her butt in her sister's face. "You were wrong! Nyah! Nyah!" Leona raised an eyebrow. "Wait a second… you knew what I was talking about all that time?" Karasu smirked. "It's fun to mess with your mind. Gave me the opportunity to PROVE YOU WRONG! HA!" Leona sweatdropped. "You sound like Mikita. By the way, where is she anyway? She and Zoro have been gone for hours…"

Not long after Leona had said that, Mikita returned to the ship. "Hello everyone…" She walked past them back toward the cabin where the bed was. "Goodbye everyone." Leona raised an eyebrow. "Mikita, you look awfully tired…"

"Yep. I have to rest up after all that training," she fibbed as she walked on. Leona blinked and then just shook her head. "Imbecile..." As Mikita got back into the room and laid down, she smiled sneakily to herself.

Zoro walked onto the ship and started his weight training. He only got about twenty swings of his weights when he suddenly realized he was tired as well. "Night everyone." He didn't bother to go in, he simply passed out on the deck. Luffy was now eating a watermelon and looked at him. "Ok. Night Zoro." He then went back to eating. Leona looked at Zoro and blinked. _They overdid it all right. There's something different about them though… _

Before long, the Merry had set sail again, and was swiftly cutting through the waves. Nami was looking over her maps. "Hmmm... looks like we're going to enter a belt of islands soon. Unfortunately, there's also a number of Sea Kings in the area. Do you think we should just go past it?" Luffy shrugged. "Eh, Zoro, Sanji and me can handle any Sea King that comes at us." Nami sweatdropped. "How did I know you would say that?"

It had been several hours and Mikita still hadn't woken up. Leona peeked in and watched her sleeping in curiosity. "She's still asleep?" She closed the door and looked over at Zoro. "Jeez, what kind of training did you put her through?" Robin gave a smirk as she read one of her books. Leona just shook her head. "He's still asleep as well. Ah whatever." She looked out at a nearby island and she stared at it for a moment. "That island…" Robin looked at her. "What is it?" Leona looked out at the island sadly as she remembered Lutious. "It's just that… I've been there before. That's all." Robin looked at her. "Does that mean you want to stop off there?" Leona looked back at Robin and then toward the island again. She looked as if she did, but it was bringing back memories for her. Robin looked at Leona again to make sure. "If you want to go there, I can arrange it that we land." Leona simply nodded in response, still looking out at the island.

Robin nodded. "I'll make arrangements for you. She closed her book and got up, adjusting her hat as she did so. She walked around to Luffy and Nami in turn speaking with them both. She then came back sitting back down at the small table and picking her book back up. "Well, they seem fine with it. We'll be there within the hour." Leona smiled lightly and then looked away again as a frown returned to her. She held a bracelet on her wrist closely.

Sanji walked up behind her. "Something wrong Leona-swan?" Leona looked at Sanji and shook her head. "No, not really. I'm fine San-San. Thanks." She tried to smile at him. Sanji smiled at her. "If you say so Leona-swan."

Karasu looked at Luffy and said, "Let's see who can confuse Sanji more!" She ran up to Sanji. "If two hermaphrodites loved each other, would that make them gay?" Luffy walked over to him. "Sanji. If a woman was trying to kill Nami and the only way to stop her would be to fight her, what would you do?" That actually worked as Sanji started sweating as he tried to think of an answer. Karasu shrugged. "What would you do if Nami and I were hanging off the edge of a cliff and you could only save one of us?" She smirked as she saw his reaction. Sanji sweated more. Then Luffy just yelled out the first thing that came to his head. "Sanji! What's your name?" Everyone on the ship then stared at Luffy. Sanji blinked, having no idea hat just happened.

Luffy grinned at Karasu. "I win!" Karasu yelled back at Luffy. "Your face! Ooh burn!" She made no sense whatsoever with that remark and this confused everyone to an even greater extent, especially Sanji. Karasu smirked. "Who wins now?" Sanji stared at them. Luffy yelled back. "Yeah? Well your face looks like your face!" Sanji slapped his head. He was starting to get a headache. "Yes it doesn't!" Karasu retorted with her hand on her hips. Leona sweatdropped. "I think it's a tie…" Luffy smirked. "That wasn't very good at all Karasu. It made perfect sense."

Sanji finally ended the competition by smashing his heel down on Luffy's head. "STOP CONFUSING ME YOU MORON!" Karasu laughed. "I WIN! HAHA!" She skipped off in triumph, although it wasn't much of a competition since both of them appear just as equally retarded. Sanji looked at Karasu. "You won at what Karasu-chwan?" Karasu looked at him and shrugged. "I dunno, but I won." She went back to skipping around. "Hey Luffy! I bet I can skip faster and better than you!" Leona sighed. "Oh brother…" Nami looked at her and sighed. "How do you know you beat him if you don't know what the contest was. Maybe it was 'who could get knocked out by Sanji the fastest'."

Karasu looked at Nami and halfway glared. "I know what I said and didn't said… say! COME ON LOSER!" she addressed to Luffy, who was on the ground unconscious. Karasu started kicking him. "Get up you loser or I win by default!" Luffy looked at her. "Win what by default." Nami sighed. "So, by the fact that you can't remember, technically Luffy wins, since he probably remembers." Karasu smirked and pressed Luffy's forehead with her finger. Luffy got up. "Yeah! I remember! It was a sleeping contest! Who could sleep longer! And Karasu didn't sleep at all! So I win!" Karasu poked his forehead repeatedly. "Why can you still remember? It's not fair! You're supposed to have temporary amnesia!" Leona chuckled.

Luffy blinked. "I'm what?" Nami rolled her eyes. "To be able to inflict something like amnesia on someone's brain, Luffy would actually need a brain to begin with." Karasu glared at Luffy. "STUPID MONKEY!" Ironically, that was actually his name. She then smiled. "So what about another competition?" Luffy grinned. "Sure! How about who can go the fastest on their knees?" Karasu got down on her knees next to him. "Okay! Get ready! One… two… three!" They took off in another ridiculous race.

Leona looked toward the cabin and Mikita was still not exiting from it. "Well at least she's getting plenty of rest now."


	16. Chapter 16

The Merry cruised gracefully into a cove on the island near a sandy beach and then dropped anchor, the crew leaving it, chatting happily about what they were going to do.

Or rather, that's what Nami wished had happened. Unfortunately, Luffy had gotten control of the helm. The Merry had barged jerkily forwards into a spine of rocks, which had then hurled it through the air, and landed it in the middle of a group of trees, hurling the crewmembers to random places across the ship. Mikita came out of the cabin and held her head. "Jeez! What's a girl gotta do to get some sleep around here?" Nami, Sanji, and Usopp were pummeling Luffy into a pulp. The words 'idiot' and 'moron' came up frequently.

Leona sighed as she stood up, looking over at Karasu. "You all right?" Karasu was still dazed out just as she was before they had landed roughly. "…Something happened?" Leona shook her head. "Never mind." Zoro woke up. "Huh? Where are we?" Mikita looked at him. "I dunno."

Leona looked out at the island and stepped off the ship with an emotionless expression. Sanji looked at her. "Leona-swan?" Leona looked at him. "Hmm?"

"You look as if something's bothering you." Sanji lit a cigarette. Leona just walked on. "No… not really." She then saw something that made her gasp as she ran toward it. Sanji ran after her. "Leona-swan?" Leona stopped at a small building that seemed rather old. "This house… It was his Lutious's house." She slowly reached for the doorknob as she turned it and opened it. Inside, there were dusty furniture and belongings, cobwebs everywhere. Leona looked around it as she beheld many memories. Sanji looked inside. "It hasn't been lived in for a long time."

"I know. Even all of his belongings are still here." Leona looked at the burnt out old fireplace and remembered a day when she and Lutious cuddled by the fire, feeding each other marshmallows, then kissing romantically and enjoying each other's company. This brought a smile to her face, but then she frowned because she knew that she no longer had her first true mate. Sanji looked in the room. "So... this was the house of your old boyfriend?"

"He wasn't only a boyfriend," Leona said as she looked at Sanji. "He was my first mate…" She looked down and then noticed a broken champagne glass. She carefully picked up the main part of the glass as she held it there and examined it. "I remember when we used to use these. We always had the best times together…" She dusted it off and sighed. Sanji put a hand on Leona's shoulder. "But, he wouldn't have wanted you to obsess over his death." Leona looked at him and nodded. "I know. I just can't help it you know?" She sighed and set the chipped glass on a nearby table. "Come on. Let's go see the other places around here. I used to live here, so I can show you around." She smiled and took him by the hand as they left the house.

Meanwhile on the Merry, Mikita looked out at the island. "I wonder why Leona was acting so strange?" Zoro shrugged. "Beats me." He saw something in the distance. "Hey, is that a city up ahead?" Mikita looked out at the city. "I suppose so. Why?" Zoro grinned. "There's a Marine headquarters there." Mikita smirked at him as she raised an eyebrow. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" She cracked her claws. Zoro edged one of his swords part way out of its sheath. "I think so." Mikita smirked and signaled for them to go lightly with her head. She then took off toward the city.

Zoro ran after Mikita. It was almost apparent as soon as they'd gotten near the city that the Marine base's entrance alone was covered with Marine captain. Zoro glanced at Mikita. "What do you think? Should we risk ourselves by attacking the front or sneak in and give them a surprise from behind?" Mikita smirked at him. "I'm all for being sneaky. Of course I also don't mind a little straight up attacking. Up to you sweetness." Zoro smirked. "Sneak in." He grabbed a few deck brushes nearby, slinging them under his arm and covered his face partially. "I'll see you inside." He walked right through the marines without them noticing, proving that the average Marine is an idiot.

Mikita snickered lowly. "This will be fun. Gives me a chance to test my skills." Zoro got into the building and set down the bucket of water he'd taken in with him. He looked as a few Marines rounded a corner and looked at him. And of course, his wanted poster had to be on the wall right behind him. "Look! It's Three Swords Roronoa Zoro! He's mopping our floors! The fiend!" Zoro sweatdropped and then used the deck brushes to take down the two immediately.

"Smooth," a familiar voice from behind him stated. Zoro didn't even look behind him as he put the deck brushes against the wall. "Yeah, yeah, whatever." He detected a bit of sarcasm in her voice. "Shall we move on?" Mikita asked him from behind. Zoro nodded. "Yeah, sure." He drew out the Yubashiri and started moving. "Hey Zoro. Do I look cute?" Mikita asked him as they walked along. Zoro nodded without looking back. "You always look cute. Cuter than Karasu any day."

"Aww, that's so sweet. If I could blush right now I would," Mikita replied. Zoro encountered a few Marines around a corner and reduced them to bloody corpses in moments. Mikita then asked, "Does this cut look infected to you?" Zoro didn't turn around still. "What are you talking about Mikita? You haven't done any actual fighting yet." Mikita used a fake saddened voice. "But I cut it on a piece of wood outside. I may have a splinter. Could you kiss it for me and make it better?" Zoro's eyes narrowed, anime style. "Mikita... are you becoming a wimp on me?"

"Fine. Be a meanie," Mikita replied sadly. Zoro glared and turned around. "Whatever Miki-" He paused. "You never told me you could turn invisible." Mikita reappeared and smirked. "Took you long enough. You're so dense at times when I give you hints that are so clear that even a fish out of water could find it." She snickered. "Yeah, Leona showed me how to the other day when… never mind. Let's move on." Mikita walked on, not finishing her sentence. "I wonder what's up this way?"

Zoro shrugged. "More Marines?" Mikita smirked and halfway drew her Dragon Tail. "Yes indeed."

Leona took Sanji on a tour of the island as she pointed to a river. "That river over there has a fun vine to swing on into it. It's a lot of fun." She smiled as she looked out at the water, laughing lightly. "Lutious would always shove me into the water and laugh at me." Sanji smirked. "I see..." Absently he pushed Leona into the river. Leona got her head up out of the water and spit out the water in her mouth, wiping her face as well. She laughed a bit. "Sanji!" He crouched down, smiling at her. Leona smirked and pulled him into the water with her, laughing as she splashed him. Sanji grinned at her, as he splashed her back. They continued to play around in the river and laugh, carrying on with a good time.

In the meantime, Mikita and Zoro were also having their share of fun on a Marine murder spree. The rest of the Strawhats (excluding Karasu and Luffy) were having much less fun. They were trying to push the Merry back to the water. Karasu watched them and yawned. "You want an easier solution?" Usopp glared at her. "SHUT UP! IF IT MIGHT DAMAGE THE MERRY, THEN NEVER!" Karasu sighed. "Why is it that whenever people see me, they automatically think 'destruction'?" She pointed at the ship and used her telekinesis to lift it safely back to the water. "There. Careful enough for ya?" Usopp glared. "THAT WASN'T SAFE! IF YOU HAD DROPPED HER THAN SHE'D HAVE BEEN DESTROYED!" Karasu raised an eyebrow. "But I didn't drop it, now did I?" Usopp glared. "That's not the point!" Karasu sat down. "You're welcome," she stated sarcastically as she leaned back against a tree.

Meanwhile, Sanji and Leona were now drying off. Leona laughed and shoved him playfully. "I can't believe you went and did that." Sanji smiled. "But did it make you feel better?" Leona grinned at him. "Yeah… thanks." As she took a step away from the river, she suddenly began to fall into a hidden trap hole. She shouted and held onto the edge. Sanji ran over to her. "Leona-swan!" He reached down to help her out. A strange black shadow grabbed onto Sanji and pulled him back from Leona. Leona fell into the hole as she shouted on the way down. "SANJI!" Sanji yelled back Leona's name as he twisted to try and see what had grabbed him. Strangely, the black shadow disappeared, leaving no trace behind of its source.

Leona woke up inside an underground dome chained up with shackles on her feet and hands. "What the…? What's going on?" She struggled to get free from the wall. "I was wondering when you would come around here again. I've been waiting for you," a woman replied as she approached Leona.

Sanji climbed to his feet. "Leona-swan?" Strangely, the hole that Leona had fallen into was sealed over and it appeared as if it were never there in the first place. Sanji kicked the ground furiously, creating a massive hole in the ground, as if to uncover the hole she'd fallen into. This hole created left no pathway to Leona's whereabouts however.

"You witch," Leona glared at the woman in the underground trap that she had been placed in. The witch was not an elderly hag, but was in fact a lovely young maiden with light brown silky hair. The woman smirked at Leona. "Why, how kind of you to notice." Leona continued to glare. "What do you want with me?" The witch smiled evilly as she held up the bracelet that Leona was wearing.

Leona's eyes widened. "No! Give that back!" She furiously tried to escape the chains, but her efforts were in vain. The witch grinned. "I am going to use this to bring back Lutious and keep him as a part of my soul." Leona lightly gasped in surprise as the witch continued. "He should have been mine, and in this new life he will be." She walked over to her cauldron while twirling the bracelet within her fingers.

Sanji looked around. "Leona-swan!" He started running off in a random direction, kicking all the trees in his path away. Karasu noticed this and said, "Hey, isn't that the pervert?" Luffy looked at Karasu strangely. "Who's the pervert? "Sanji kicked trees out of his path at a breakneck speed. _I'll tear apart this entire island if it will let me find Leona-swan._ Karasu blinked. "Yep, that's him all right."

The witch stirred her brew as she held the bracelet over it. "Not much longer now." Leona was in a rage now as she closed her eyes and concentrated, using her powers to phase out of the chains with transparency. She tried to rush toward the witch, but an invisible barrier threw her back. "Nice try," the woman smirked. "Lutious will be mine." She completed a spell and a thick patch of smoke filled the room. Leona watched with wide eyes.

Sanji could feel something in the pit of his stomach. _Something's happening to Leona-swan!_ His eyes were filled with rage as he shot off like a bullet, interestingly enough right in the direction of Leona. His legs were much stronger than Zoro's meaning he was running a _lot_ faster.

Leona soon found herself standing before her former mate. She simply stared in shock. "Lutious…?" He had silver hair with two black streaks in the front. The witch smirked and put Leona's bracelet on herself. "NO!" Leona shouted, but it was too late. Lutious's eyes began to flash a strange complexity of colors as he stared at Leona. "Now my mate," the witch said as she moved closer to him. "Kill her."

There was a crashing sound in the room as an expert kick broke a hole in the ceiling of the room. "WHAT WAS THAT?" Leona looked up at him. "Sanji!" She then had to focus, for Lutious was under control and trying to slice her up with his sword. Leona blocked and leaped away from the attacks. The witch smiled evilly. "How does it feel to be killed by the one that you killed yourself? Like I always say, kill and be killed. This will be his own payback." The woman glared at Sanji and used her black magic to summon the black shadow once again as it headed for him. Sanji attacked the black shadow by going into a handstand and striking the apparition with a series of spinning kicks.

The shadow managed to hold him off for a while longer while Lutious attacked Leona. It greatly hurt her inside, but Leona didn't want to fight back. She didn't want to kill him. Not again. She created a shield from her aura and blocked his blows to the best of her ability. "Lutious! Please don't do this! It's me! Leona! Please remember me and snap out of it!" The witch simply laughed. "He doesn't obey you anymore." Lutious stabbed at Leona's gut and when Leona attempted to dodge, she was injured in the side as she flinched. She had tears in her eyes. "Lutious…"

Sanji then jumped up in the air, front flipping rapidly as he descended. "Concasseur!" His heel went down on the base of the shadow's neck. The shadow received harm as it retreated. The witch leered at Sanji. Leona dodged another attack from Lutious as she looked at Sanji. "Sanji! The bracelet! Go for the bracelet on her wrist! Hurry!" Sanji charged at the witch, but upon noticing that she was a woman he froze up. "I can't attack a woman!" Leona was blown back into the wall by her attacker as she clenched her teeth and coughed up blood.

Sanji's eyes widened. "Leona-swan!" He dove forwards, and aimed a kick at Lutious's side. Leona coughed again. "No don't hurt him!" The witch laughed. "You're pathetic. Both of you." Leona glared at the woman as she created a fire whip with her aura and firepowers. "I'll make you choke on those words." She slashed above the witch's head and made her duck down as a response. "Ha! You missed!" A shelf came crashing down on the woman and Leona smirked. "Wasn't aiming directly at you." She went over and took her bracelet back as she slid it off the witch's wrist. As she did this, Lutious stopped attacking and paused as he looked at Leona. "Leona…" At that instant, he began to fade away.

"Lutious!" Leona said as she started to run to him, but it was too late. He was gone. Leona gripped her bracelet in her hand and looked at the spot where her former mate had been standing. In his place was a bracelet just like the one that Leona had. She bent down and picked it up, holding it close to her as well with a tear rolling down her cheek. Sanji looked at Leona and kneeled down next to her, putting his arms around her. "Leona-swan..." Leona still looked at the bracelets. "Her powers were the only thing keeping him alive…" She looked at Sanji and blinked her tears away. "I guess it just wasn't meant to be." Sanji nodded. "Leona-swan..." Leona looked at him. "Hmm?" She sniffed to clear her nose. Sanji looked at her sadly. "I'm sorry for you." Leona smiled lightly. "It's okay San-San. Everything happens for a reason." She stood up and looked at him. "Shall we leave this awful place?" Sanji nodded. "Yes, Leona-swan..." He helped her up and started leading her out.

The witch struggled to lift her head up as she glared at the two. "You… can't…" She dropped her head again as she sighed and gave up.

A girl with wolf ears, and a man with three swords were slowly walking away from the city. Behind them, there was an undistinguishable pile of rubble, which had, until about twenty minutes ago, been a Marine base. Mikita rubbed her hands together in triumph. "Well that was fun. Now what?" Zoro shrugged. "Now we head back and find out what Ero-cook made for lunch." Mikita nodded. "Good plan." About that time, her stomach growled.

Zoro kept on moving towards where they left the Merry. Mikita followed behind him, smacking her stomach. "Shut up! I'm going to feed you! Jeez! It's like my stomach has a mind of its own or something." Up ahead they noticed two familiar figures. Zoro sighed. "What the hell are you doing out here, Ero-cook? Why aren't you back at the ship, making us food?" Leona sighed. "So polite," she stated with sarcasm. Mikita noticed the other bracelet that Leona was holding onto and she asked, "Is that…?" Leona nodded. "Yes it is. Now if you two will kindly leave me alone to talk to Sanji privately please…" Mikita rolled her eyes. "Sure. Why not? I'll be off training." Mikita started walking off. Zoro shrugged and kept walking towards where they'd left the Merry.

Sanji looked at Leona curiously. "Sanji… thanks for helping me out today," Leona said as she smiled at him. "I really appreciate it." Sanji smiled. "I'll do anything for you Leona-swan." Of course, this was what he said to every woman he met, even complete strangers, so it probably wasn't as reassuring as it should have been. Leona smiled, but her grin soon went down a little. "I suppose you would in a sense." She looked at her bracelets and placed them in her pocket as she stood up. Sanji stood up next to her. "Hmm? What are you talking about?" Leona shook her head. "Nothing. Let's go back to the ship now." She started walking in the direction of the Merry.

Oddly enough when they finally reached the Merry, Zoro was nowhere in sight. He'd come into a strange looking building with a cauldron in the room and an unconscious woman on the ground. "How'd I end up here?"

Mikita was pointing at a small rock and concentrating, her tongue hanging out of the corner of her mouth as she bit it easily. She barely moved the pebble with telekinesis as she sighed. "Karasu, how do you make this look so easy?" Karasu sat next to her. "It's all in the will of the mind." She demonstrated as she picked up the pebble with ease with her own powers. She kept her finger pointed at it as she twirled it in the air. Mikita watched it as her sister moved it around. Karasu set it back down as she looked at Mikita. "Now try again, this time with more concentration. You have to know what you want it to do." Mikita nodded and took a breath, looking at the pebble and pointing at it. The pebble began to tremble and Mikita continued to concentrate.

Karasu nodded. "Good, now lift your hand up and allow the pebble to follow your line of power." Mikita slowly lifted her hand and the pebble shakily began to follow inches away from her hand. Mikita smiled as she held it there for a bit, but soon she lost control of it as she dropped it. She looked at it a bit disappointed. "You'll get it," Karasu assured her. "It just takes practice." Mikita nodded as she stood up. "Right." She looked around in curiosity. "Where's Zoro?"

Zoro was now back in the city. "Damn it... I could've sworn it was this way..."

Karasu noticed Mikita's reactions and heard her thoughts as she smirked. "Maybe you should go find him." Mikita looked back at Karasu and shrugged. "Why not? Might as well." As Mikita began to walk off, Karasu smirked and added, "Shall I tell Leona that you're off training then?" Mikita looked back at her with red cheeks as she turned and continued walking away. Karasu laughed lightly. "Too easy."

Zoro was now on the opposite side of the island. "Hey it's the shore! So why can't I find the Merry...?" Mikita was following his scent and she was led in all sorts of directions. "Why did his scent lead me to a beaver dam?" She shook her head in confusion and kept looking for him. Zoro walked off into a cave near the shore... only to realize it was the home to a rather large Sea King. He made a hasty retreat out of there.

Mikita searched on, sniffing around everything from squirrel's nests to women's lingerie sections in markets. "What the hell?" She asked herself as her nose led her back toward the forest. Zoro finally made it back to the Merry, climbed on board and fell asleep in the Bird nest.

When Mikita returned, she had a large chunk of her pants leg ripped off. Karasu raised an eyebrow. "What happened to you?" Mikita sighed. "Eh, got my pants ripped up by an angered Sea King. What he was doing there, I have no idea." Zoro slept in the bird's nest oblivious to what had happened to Mikita.

"Where is he?" Mikita glared as she looked at Karasu. Karasu just blinked. "He's… asleep. Why?" Mikita growled. "I gotta slap him." She walked over to where he was sleeping in the bird's nest and she did just that, leaving a large red mark across his cheek. Zoro woke up. "Huh? What was that for Mikita?" She shrugged. "Felt like it." She then walked off. Zoro rolled his eyes and then went back to sleep.

Later that night, Leona was sitting out on the Merry's deck. She wasn't with Sanji like she usually was, and this made Mikita curious. She walked out and looked at Leona. "Hey. What are you doing out here?" Leona looked up at her. "Oh, Miki. Hey. I'm just… sitting, I guess." Mikita tilted her head curiously. "Something wrong?" Leona shook her head. "No not really." Mikita sat down next to her sister. "What do you mean 'not really'?" Leona sighed. "Well… today I just faced a difficult situation that made me wonder about the bond that Lutious and I had." Mikita listened intently to her sister as she spoke. Leona held the bracelets in her hands. "I feel like it was all in vain… just as it is now."

"What do you mean?" Mikita asked her curiously. Leona looked at Mikita. "It's… not something you'd understand Miki." Mikita still looked at her demandingly, and Leona sighed. "It's just that… my relationships don't seem to go anywhere good. They're not based off of what they should be." Mikita nodded. "That is a part of the bonding process, though it should be saved for certain moments with their purposes." Leona looked at Mikita, slightly surprised. "How come you understand this so well? You and Zoro haven't gotten that far, so how would you know about that?"

Mikita froze. She stared at Leona silently, unsure of how to answer that. Leona looked at Mikita and noticed her strange reaction. "Mikita?" Mikita shook her head quickly to rid her frozen appearance. "Oh sorry, I dazed out." Leona smiled. "Getting like Karasu, I see." Mikita laughed lightly. "Nah. Nobody can measure up to her strange ways." Leona smiled as she looked down. "She's probably the smartest out of the two of us." Mikita looked at her and her ear slanted in curiosity. "What do you mean?" Leona looked at Mikita again. "Well, she's the only one that has brotherly bonds with men instead of romantic bonds."

Mikita raised an eyebrow with a smile. "You mean she and Luffy aren't dating?" Leona giggled. "No. They came and rubbed their sibling-ness in my face a couple days ago. It was quite funny actually. They think they're so intimidating." Mikita snickered. "Yeah." She kept her eyes on Leona for a bit longer, seeing how she focused so much on her bracelets. "Leona, how does being a Sanjian differ from the mating rituals of demons?" Mikita finally asked. Leona looked at her and smiled. "Being spiritually connected is a much stronger bond that has to be shared with that one special soul mate. It starts out as a spiritual bond and it works its way up to a physical alikeness. The souls connect as one, but grow to bond as one body." Mikita elevated an eyebrow. "One body?"

"Well it's not in a literal sense," Leona replied. She held her bracelets out in demonstration to Mikita. "Well, these bracelets were the connectors that bound Lutious and I together spiritually. He wore one and I wore the other."

"Why do these bracelets serve such a strong purpose in the connection?" Mikita asked curiously. "Because," Leona answered, "There has to be an item that holds onto the auras of the two that are bound together, since spiritual links are tightly linked with the aura. It's supposed to happen by destiny, but Sanjian can hold the choice of bonding to another by their own will, with the other's consent of course." Mikita nodded and listened well to Leona's explanation. This topic was greatly interesting her. "Does it have to be a set of bracelets?" She inquired.

"No. It can be anything metal based. Those kinds of objects hold in heat very well. It has to be an item that comes into contact with the skin of course, like a ring or a bracelet. However, a watch is said to be the best spiritual connector since it seems to hold the symbolism of time in a relationship, but anything like this will do," Leona explained as she held out her bracelets. Mikita nodded. "I see…"

Leona smiled as she remembered the bond that she and Lutious shared. "Oh the things that Lutious and I used to be able to do with our bond. We could speak telepathically through our minds. We had no secrets. We felt each other's pain, physical and emotional. We loved each other more, even greater than any normal love could ever be. That's in my opinion anyway, because it was a bond held deep in the spirit."

Mikita looked at her sadly. "You really miss him don't you?" Leona sighed and looked at Mikita, a solemn look on her face. "Yes I do, but I know that life goes on and everything happens for a reason, whatever that reason may be." Mikita thought for a moment and said, "Maybe it was meant to be that way because you're supposed to be with Sanji." Leona seemed to be a bit saddened. "Don't get me wrong. Sanji's a nice guy and all, but he's just like Lutious. He can't love only one. I can't make the same mistake twice." Mikita nodded and stared off into space. Leona suddenly glared at her. "Don't go off on me saying that I'm a pansy or anything because of all this about Lutious like you usually do." Mikita looked at her and shrugged. "What room do I have to talk?" She walked back toward the cabin and Leona watched her as she left. A smile came across her face. _Seems that I've taught her a few things after all._


	17. Chapter 17

A couple of days went by as the crew spent a while on the island. Leona had taken a few of Lutious's belongings with her for a memory. Karasu was always competing with Luffy, as usual, and Mikita was asleep in the bird's nest with Zoro. What an active routine. Sanji was now cooking up the fish that Usopp and Chopper had caught earlier that day.

"I bet I could sing better than you!" Karasu exclaimed to Luffy. Leona covered her ears. "NO! Please… just no." Luffy grinned. "I bet not!" Karasu smirked at him. "I can hit the high notes better than you!" Leona sweatdropped. "You can pretty much outdo anyone in that one Karasu." Luffy grinned. "Yeah, but I bet I can carry a tune better!" Karasu shrugged. "So?"

Mikita growled from the crow's nest. "Would you two just shut up?" Leona smirked at Mikita. "Lazy ass." Zoro hadn't even woken up. Luffy smirked. "If I can carry a tune better, then I can sing better than you!" Karasu smirked. "Let's see about that then." Leona held her ears. "Oh no…" Karasu then sang a note and carried it on. Surprisingly, it wasn't all crackly or high pitched. Leona looked at her and blinked. "That was… pretty good Karasu. How did you learn to sing?" Mikita smiled from the bird's nest with her eyes closed.

"Miki taught me in exchange for me teaching her how to use telekinesis," Karasu smiled and turned to Luffy. "Don't underestimate me rubber boy." Then Luffy started to sing. Well... it wasn't ever going to be considered one of the worlds greatest works of art, but it proved he could sing pirate songs well enough. Leona smiled at them. "With practice, you two could get really good at singing. I'm impressed."

"Thank you. Who did a good job?" Mikita smirked as she gloated jokingly. Leona giggled and Karasu jumped up happily for no apparent reason. Sanji walked out. "Hey! Lunch is ready!" Karasu was the first to dash over to Sanji for the food. Mikita yawned and stretched as she sat up. Her stomach growled and she sighed. Luffy was right behind Karasu. Chopper and Usopp put down their fishing rods as they ran. At that moment Luffy, Chopper, and Usopp went flying backwards across the ship. "Let the ladies eat first you morons."

Mikita pushed her way through. "Yeah. Ladies first you imbeciles." Leona sighed. "Mikita…" Mikita shrugged as she got her food. "What? He said ladies first." She then took her food back to the crow's nest as she sat next to Zoro. She waved a piece of fish in front of his nose to see if he would wake up. Zoro opened an eye. "I'm not in the mood for fish." Mikita shrugged and continued to eat it for herself. Zoro shrugged as well and went back to sleep.

Later that afternoon, Mikita walked off the ship. "I'm out." Leona looked at her curiously. "Where are you going?" Mikita shrugged. "Where else? I'm off to train." Zoro got up. "I guess that goes for me as well. I've been way too lazy lately." Leona nodded at Zoro. "I'll agree with you there."

Mikita walked on as she went through the forest. "So, what shall we do today?" Zoro shrugged. "We could try sparring again." Mikita smirked at him. "That's actually a good plan, since you've been pre-occupied lately." He looked at her. "Huh?" Mikita shook her head with a smirk. "Perverted _and_ dense." Zoro growled at her slightly, drawing Yubashiri. "Shut up, and let's go." Mikita smirked and drew her Dragon Tail. "Gladly." She instantly sent a massive beam of spiritual energy toward him at a high speed. Zoro ducked the attack and thrusted at Mikita's sword arm.

She blocked with her Dragon Tail as their swords collided. "What's got you all tense huh?" She smirked. "Was it something I said?" Zoro smirked. "Just trying to get things started." He jumped over Mikita's head and attacked her from behind. Mikita flipped backwards and landed on her hands, kicking him in the chest as she went back. At the same time, she used one hand to slash the Dragon Tail at his feet while it was in the whip state. "It's fun to watch Sanji fight sometimes. He gives me ideas. I just customize them into my own."

Zoro sidestepped the attack with the Dragon tail, and then cut down at Mikita's exposed legs. The blade grew dangerously close to a certain area and Mikita hurriedly flipped back, landing on her feet in front of him. "Hey! Watch it with that thing! Don't make me neuter you!" She taunted as she took a couple of steps back while strategizing. She smirked and stuck the Dragon Tail's blade into the ground between them. The blade came up through the ground in its whip form like a striking snake as it stuck through his stomach. Right after that, it retreated and returned to Mikita in its sword state once more. Mikita smirked. "Next time, it won't be your stomach."

Zoro smirked. "Really? Except I'll be able to block it next time." He drew his Sandai as he prepared for the next attack. Mikita smirked. "So you want to take this up a notch, do you? All right…" Her eyes flashed a red hue as he was blown back into a tree forcefully, nearly snapping that tree in half as it cracked largely. This attack was sudden, forceful, and a complete element of surprise. Her powers were apparently increasing, shown with this telekinetic attack. She licked her fangs and smirked. "Here's the deal: If you win, we do what you want to do. If I win, you have to do what I say for the day. Deal?" She cracked her claws and kept the sneaky smile.

Zoro smirked. "Fine by me. But don't expect me to lose." Mikita grinned. "All right." She dashed at him with lightning speed and slashed at his chest with her claws. Zoro parried with one sword and then slashed at Mikita with his free hand. She extended her claws to a length as long as her arm and all five claws went around his attempts to block and stabbed through his arm and shoulder, on the side that the mark wasn't on of course. She jerked her claws out and grinned evilly through her fangs as his blood dripped from her extremely long claws, which she soon shrank down to a shorter length after a moment.

Zoro shifted stance. "Clever." He then slashed ferociously to drive her back. Mikita leaped back with a smirk and soon after, she leaped up into the trees and was no longer in sight. Zoro quickly moved with his two swords. "Nanajuu Ni Pondou Hou!" He sent two spiraling blades of air through the area, shredding most of the trees, to expose Mikita. And if she happened to be hiding in one then she'd be injured by the attack.

Then there was silence. Nothing. No sound. No cries of pain. No Mikita in sight. After a few seconds of this, an unseen force slashed a large gash into his back with no warning of it coming. Zoro staggered for a moment, then focused on Mikita's fighting 'ki' to get an idea of her general location. Now all he had to do was wide area attacks. "Takanami!" He made two powerful gusts of wind at Mikita.

These gusts of wind began twirling around like a tornado as they swirled around and increased in size. They also gained flames and blue spiritual energy. Before long and with an element of quick surprise, these large and dangerous tornadoes flew at Zoro from both directions, ripping the ground up beneath them. Zoro crossed his blades into an 'X' in front of him, to block the tornadoes actually shoving them aside. He sheathed the swords quickly, ripping a massive boulder out of the ground and hurling it at Mikita.

The boulder froze in midair and was hurled right back at him. Ten fire blades seemed to appear from out of thin air as they spiraled at Zoro. Zoro sweatdropped. "Oh crap." He quickly grabbed his swords again. "Nitouryu Iai: Rashoumon!" He made two perfectly vertical slashes, cleaving the boulder in half. As for the blades of fire, he whirled his blades like shields and deflected them, his blades themselves igniting in flame.

Sudden, quick, and painful stinging slashes were then frequently created all around Zoro's body. Mikita was obviously very close by and dashing around him with direct, forceful attacks with her claws. He could most likely feel the wind of her running by at incomprehensible speeds. Zoro quickly drew the Wadou and spun quickly. "Sai Kuru!" His spinning formed a blender like effect around him, and anything nearby would be dragged in, slashed thoroughly and thrown back.

Nothing seemed to be pulled in or attacked. However, Mikita had now lost her stealth as she reappeared up in a tree branch. "Well that was fun while it lasted." She sighed and jumped down. "Invisibility is fun, but I can only use up so much spiritual energy in the process." She shrugged and twirled her whip-like sword above her head. "Gave me time to inflict some good damage on you. Plus, I saved some energy for this!" The links in her sword began to glow with spiritual energy, as she was about to perform a large attack.

A large cloud formed above her and loomed over Zoro, soon striking with her energy and fire attacks like lightning. Mikita smirked. "I can create my own storm." Zoro rolled aside. "Then I'll just cut your lightning, I don't care what those idiots back on the Merry say."

At that point both Usopp and Nami sneezed at the same instant, stared at each other in confusion and then went back to doing whatever the heck it was they were doing.

Mikita raised an eyebrow as her strikes continued following his body heat. "What the hell do you mean by that anyway?" She appeared confused a bit. Zoro dodged another attack. "Never mind." Mikita shrugged and a funnel cloud began to descend from the cloud. She smirked. "Run from this one." The tornado surrounded him in a stormy prison as it began to pull him up into the cloud. Zoro's eyes widened. "Oh shit..." He couldn't do anything as he was pulled up into the twister.

Mikita smirked and flicked blades of fire into the funnel cloud. "Well. Well. This is quite interesting." Sadly, her legs were beginning to tremble underneath her, signaling that she was using up a great amount of energy for these attacks. Zoro actually wasn't bothered much by the fire blades. He'd felt much hotter than that. He started spinning inside the twister. "Tatsumaki!"

Mikita blinked. "What the…?" Her cloud and tornado were destroyed and they disappeared, which made her growl. Her lightly shaky legs also irritated her as she dashed at him. Zoro staggered as he landed, watching her charge him. He positioned a sword to point straight at her, to stop her charge, or else she'd run into the end of the blade. Mikita simply pointed at it as she ran, pointing it to the side of him. "You gotta do better than that!" Zoro waited until the last possible moment before thrusting out the second blade at her.

The blade cut Mikita's left arm and she growled as blood dripped down from it. Mikita's legs were shaking even more now as she stared into his eyes. "So, are you willing to call it a draw?" She smirked as she healed her wound. Zoro smirked back. "I don't think so. I'm going to win soon. You can barely stand up straight." Mikita smirked back. "You shouldn't be talking. You're staggering like a drunkard." Zoro smirked. "Except I can bear the pain. I've had to fight full power enemies in worse conditions than this."

Mikita sighed and finally gave in as she collapsed. "Fine. You win. I'm not even going to… let my ego in on this one." She breathed heavily and sat up. Zoro smirked. "Oh, and don't you remember our bet?" Mikita looked up at him and nodded. "Yes… I remember." She sighed and looked down in defeat. Zoro sighed. "Eh, if you're not feeling up to it then I won't bother."

Mikita looked up at him and smirked. "Who says I'm not feeling up to it?" She healed his cuts and scrapes from a distance somehow as she smiled. "That's an advantage of being mates." She smirked at him. "Now get down here before I change my mind." Zoro smirked at her. "As you wish."

Karasu was on the deck listening to Luffy babbling on about something. They both laughed and seemed to be having fun as usual. "That was pretty quick, but you still can't talk faster than me." She bluffed and smirked as she always did, but she soon heard a howl off in the distance that distracted her. She heard it only faintly and she seemed surprised. "No way…" She looked over at Leona in the ship and saw that she was too distracted by talking to Sanji. Karasu sighed in relief. "Good. I know Miki wouldn't have wanted Leona to hear that."

Luffy smirked. "Oh yeah? I bet I have a better dream than you!" Karasu looked at Luffy and blinked. "I dream all the time…" Luffy grinned. "Yeah, but what's your goal in life?" Karasu grinned largely as she stood up and struck a confident pose. "I want to travel the lands and meet all the cuties in the world!" Luffy smirked. "Ha! Mine's greater than yours!" Karasu glared at him. "Nuh-uh! I'm gonna make the world's largest cutie stash! BEAT THAT!" Luffy smirked. "Ok. I'm going to find One Piece and be the Pirate King!" Karasu grinned. "COOL! You're going in my cutie stash!" She giggled. Luffy blinked. "Huh? What's a cutie stash?" Karasu smirked. "You'll see one day."

Later that evening close to nightfall, Mikita and Zoro returned. Mikita had been acting a little different than usual. "You can go on to bed. I'll catch up with you," she told Zoro with a light smile. Karasu had intentionally stayed awake to wait on Mikita to return. Zoro nodded. "Ok." He headed up to the birds nest, falling asleep instantly.

Mikita stood there on the deck staring out at the water with a blank expression. Karasu noticed this and walked up to Mikita. "Miki… did you know that was going to happen? Do you have any idea what you just did?" Mikita just turned and looked at her sister with an unreadable gaze. She then turned to look back out at the water with no response. She was gripping the rail of the ship tightly, which signaled inner anger. Karasu opened her mouth to speak, but she had already read Mikita's mind, so she found no need to speak further.

Mikita finally turned without a word and walked into the ship, standing and looking at Zoro in the crow's nest. She still had no expression as she stood there and just looked at him, stroking his hair carefully. Her face appeared to go a little bit sadder as she lay down next to him on her back and closed her eyes. Zoro smiled a bit when he felt Mikita come in next to him, but other than that, made no other movement. Mikita lay there with her eyes open for a long time before she finally dozed off.

Karasu sat out on the ship's deck in thought about Mikita. She soon saw Mikita walking out on the deck and going over to the railing once again. Karasu looked at her strangely. "Mikita…?" Mikita just leaned over the railing and looked down at the water with an ill expression, her mouth relaxed open. Karasu's eyes widened. "Uh-oh…" After a moment, Mikita started vomiting and Karasu rushed over to her. "Miki…" Mikita coughed and wiped her mouth off as she glanced at Karasu, her body and mouth shaking.

Zoro woke up and looked down. "Mikita?" Mikita looked back at him shakily and Karasu put her hand on Mikita's shoulder. "Here. Let me help you back over there." Mikita didn't even want to walk as she plopped down on the deck and sat there trembling. Karasu just looked down at her sadly, watching as Mikita's lower jaw shook as if she were cold. Zoro jumped down next to her. "Mikita! Are you alright?" Mikita just looked up at him silently as her jaw trembled. Karasu watched them quietly, not interfering. Zoro looked at her. "Mikita?"

Karasu just blinked. "Uhh… congratulations?" Zoro turned. "What?" Karasu smirked. "Never mind." Mikita looked at Zoro and then at the crow's nest. "She wants to go lie down," Karasu answered for Mikita, knowing that she wasn't going to speak. Zoro nodded. "Yeah, sure, go ahead." Mikita stood up and used Zoro for support. She then went to the crow's nest by herself and lay down, curling up on her side. Karasu just watched Mikita as she went, then she looked at Zoro with a simple stare. Zoro looked back. "What?" Karasu looked at him with a smirk and then snickered quietly as she shook her hand at him as if to say 'I won't even bother'. She walked off and went back into the ship to lie next to Luffy.

Zoro shrugged and climbed up the mast to where Mikita was in the bird's nest. Mikita was still shaking lightly as she rested there with her eyes closed. Zoro lay down next to her again and closed his eyes. Mikita lightly smiled as she felt him next to her, so she cuddled closer to him and purred. Zoro's arm went around her instinctively, even though he was asleep.

Mikita woke up earlier the next morning as she walked outside on the deck. So many thoughts were running through her head. Karasu walked outside next to her and asked, "How do you feel?" Mikita looked at her. "I'm… I don't know." Karasu smiled. "You seem confused." Mikita nodded. "I am… of course you read my mind, so of course you already know what I'm thinking." Karasu smirked. "One of the many advantages, yes." Mikita turned to her. "So… should I tell him?"

"Of course," Karasu replied. "It'll be okay. What you're worried about might not even be true." Mikita sighed. "I know, but…" Karasu hugged her sister and said, "Just follow your heart Miki." Mikita giggled. "How did you get so smart?" Karasu smirked. "I can be when I want to be. It's all an act otherwise." Zoro simply rolled over in the bird's nest. Mikita sighed. "At least I don't have to tell him yet. I get a while to think to myself about this before he wakes up." Karasu smiled. "True. I'm gonna go challenge Luffy to a burping contest! HEY LUFFY!" She ran off inside the ship and Mikita lightly smiled at her. She then paused and raised an eyebrow. "Wait, Karasu can't burp very loud… BUT I CAN! I could beat both of them in that one." She smirked.

Zoro had woken up. "Don't bet on that. Luffy _can_ belch. Quite loudly." Mikita smirked. "Apparently you haven't heard me at my loudest." She then realized who she had replied to and paused. "Oh… uhh, you're awake already?" Zoro shrugged. "I guess." Mikita looked at Leona, who was laughing at Luffy's belching, and turned to Zoro again. "We need to talk… in private." Mikita stood up and looked at him. "Come with me." She then walked onto the island. Zoro raised an eyebrow, following her.

Mikita stopped at a secluded place in the forest and sat on a log. She patted the spot next to her, signaling for him to sit there with her. Zoro sat down next to her, looking at Mikita inquisitively. Mikita swallowed the saliva in her mouth and said, "Zoro… something's… happened." She looked into his eyes with a little bit of fear. He looked at her concerned. "What?" She took a breath and began explaining. "You may have noticed a bit of strangeness in my behavior during our last spar. It was because of the early signs of my cycle… you know, being in heat. My body usually gives me a heads up and lets me know that I'm going to start in a couple days, so when you wanted to… I thought that I had enough time before it came but… Well then it was too late and…" She wasn't finishing some of her sentences because she didn't want to come right out and say certain things.

Zoro raised an eyebrow. "What are you saying Mikita?" Mikita looked at him. "Remember the howl? Well… it represented my tribe's call of fertility and now, because I couldn't turn back once you consumed me… I'm pregnant." She bit her lower lip, unsure of how he would react. Zoro's eyes widened. "You serious?" Mikita simply nodded. "Please don't hate me…" Zoro sighed. "I'm not angry." Mikita blinked. "Then what are you?" Zoro looked at her. "I don't know." Mikita just lowered her ears sadly and closed her eyes.

Zoro looked at her and hugged her. "You've done nothing wrong Mikita." Mikita just remained with a saddened expression and wrapped her arms around him. "But I have… and it's too late to turn back." She laid her head on his shoulder and let her tears fall. Zoro shook his head. "No, Mikita, nothing's wrong with what you're doing." He held her close against him. Mikita just sniffed and stayed in an embrace.

Back on the Merry Usopp was trying to fix the damage done to the poor ship. He looked over at the others on board. Thankfully Sanji and Leona were elsewhere, so the cook wouldn't be yelling at Usopp for making women work... "Oi! You guys! Chopper and I can't do this alone! We need you guys to help!" Luffy grinned at Karasu. "I bet I can get more work done than you can!" Karasu smirked. "You're on!" She then scrambled to get the jobs done. Luffy was using his stretching abilities to help. In moments the Merry looked even better than it had to begin with. And it had only taken Luffy and Karasu to do it.

Leona and Sanji returned to the ship and Leona blinked. "What happened here?" Luffy grinned. "I did more work than Karasu." Karasu looked at Luffy. "Nuh-uh!" Leona raised an eyebrow. "You got these two to do all the work due to their competitiveness?" Usopp nodded triumphantly. "Of course it was easy for I, Captain Usopp!" This resulted at Nami reminding him he was not the captain. Painfully.

Mikita was still holding Zoro and she had stopped her tears as she looked at him. "You know… this is going to be bad." Zoro shook his head. "No it won't. This won't interfere with either of our dreams." Mikita looked into his eyes nervously. "Heh… one word: Leona." She sweatdropped. Zoro sweatdropped as well. "You think we should consult her?" Mikita quickly nodded once. "Yes. If we don't tell her not to get carried away, you know she will. She'll be telling the world about it… and that's not something I want." Zoro nodded. "I agree. So. We tell her, ask her what's going to happen, then tie her up and lock her in a closet." Mikita began to sweat a little more. "Sure… good plan." There was still something else on her mind that she just didn't want to mention. It was apparent in her eyes. She then stood up. "Come on. Let's head back." Zoro nodded. "Sure."

When they returned to the Merry, everyone was talking and babbling on, but they all became silent when Mikita and Zoro walked onto the ship. All except for Luffy of course, since he had no clue what was going on, so he kept babbling to Karasu until she put her hand over his mouth. Mikita just looked at them and blinked. "Hello?" Zoro noticed this and immediately glared at Leona. "Congratulations," Leona said as she smiled. Mikita sweatdropped. "Heh…"

Zoro grabbed Leona by the ear, and dragged her forcefully into the inside of the ship. "If we want something known, we'll tell everyone ourselves. We DON'T need help from you!" He actually sounded quite pissed off at Leona. Mikita looked at the door sadly.

"I was only helping to spread the wonderful news…" Leona replied. She then glared. "I've only told everyone on the ship, so I won't tell anyone else if it pisses you off that bad." Zoro glared at her. "Why do you insist on doing that? At least _ask_ us first." Leona sighed as she stood up. "Sorry. If only I could have seen your anger in my vision…" She walked out onto the deck and looked at Mikita with saddened eyes. Mikita tucked her tail between her legs and looked down. Leona then went over and hugged Mikita. "It'll be okay Miki. I suppose I should apologize to you too." Zoro started. "Oh, that's right, what can you tell about the kid already?"

Mikita seemed to have a fearful expression when Zoro asked that and Karasu noticed Mikita's reaction as she read her mind. Karasu looked down and bit her lip softly. Leona smiled. "It's going to be a wonderful child. The strongest thing since Hercules." Mikita's eyes widened and she looked at Leona in surprise. "Really?" Leona smiled and nodded. "Yes. Really." Zoro smiled at Mikita. "Nothing to worry about." Mikita looked at Zoro and then back at Leona. She was too surprised for words. Karasu smiled and resumed eating her fish.

Zoro shrugged and looked at Mikita. "Alright, shall we go through the second part of the plan then?" Mikita smirked. "Most definitely." And they indeed kept their plan as Leona began to hit against the closet door. "Let me out! I promise I won't tell anyone else without asking first! Hello? Guys?" Zoro walked out and looked at Sanji. "Where's Leona-swan?"

"Ummm..." Within moments, Leona had a blond haired companion, tied up as she was in the closet with her. Leona looked at Sanji and simply blinked.

Mikita smirked at Zoro. "You do know that they will turn that into an advantage right?" Zoro shrugged. "He's tied up quite well, and without his legs he's no threat." Mikita chuckled. "True." She then heard strange sounds coming from the closet and her eye twitched. "See? That's kinda what I meant…" Zoro shrugged. "Eh, we'll just tell the crew about that then."

Leona was actually just trying to bite the ropes off of Sanji's legs. The sounds that Mikita heard of bumping around were Sanji hitting his head against the wall on accident while trying to get his legs toward Leona. "Harder Leona-Swan!" Leona groaned. "I'm trying. Move more to the left." Mikita backed away disgusted with misinterpretation and Karasu just laughed. Zoro sweatdropped. "Amazing that they can do that while they're tied up..."

"Yeah…" Mikita replied as she decided to walk over to the mast and sit down. She seemed to be in thought again. Zoro climbed up into the bird's nest, and fell asleep. Mikita noticed this and looked down in sadness. _I wonder how he really feels about this? What if he really is upset about this and isn't telling me?_ Zoro looked at Mikita. _There's something she's not telling me..._


	18. Chapter 18

The next day was a lively one indeed. "Luffy!" Karasu yelled as she ran over to him. "New contest! Let's see who can hang the most crabs from their lips!" Karasu already had one with its claw clinging to her lower lip. Leona raised an eyebrow. "Doesn't that… hurt?" Karasu shrugged. "Eh, a little." Luffy nodded, already having forty crabs hanging from his stretched out mouth. Karasu giggled and they ran outside on the beach to find more crabs to pinch themselves with. Leona just chuckled and watched them go. She then looked and saw Mikita getting off the ship. "Where are you going?" Leona asked her. Mikita shrugged. "I don't know. Somewhere." She seemed a little stressed as she walked on and Leona sighed. "Poor Miki. It's all piling on her lately."

Luffy had now stretched his mouth from arm to arm and had more than 400 crabs hanging from his mouth. Karasu had 600 tinier crabs hanging from her mouth. "Take dat!" She could barely speak from all the crabs blocking her face. Luffy stretched his mouth farther hanging more off it. "Ha!" He now had almost 1000. (Where the hell was he getting them from?) Karasu blinked. _What the hell? Is he breeding them by the second or something?_

Mikita sat near a river alone in thought. She watched a leaf float downstream as she kept her eye on it.

Luffy grinned, as he added another making it 1001. "HA! I WIN!" Leona laughed at them. "Very interesting. Now how are you going to get them off? Hmm?" Karasu then had a puzzled look on her face. _Oh shit…_ Leona laughed quietly as she heard them screaming a little from the pain of ripping them off their lips. She then looked at Zoro in the crow's nest. _I wonder what's going on with him and Mikita? Is he mad at her or something? Ever since he found out that she was pregnant, he's been avoiding her._

Zoro ignored much that was going on... or he tried, but Luffy's method of removing the crabs wasn't very easy to ignore. He simply let go of his stretching mouth. The result was crabs flying everywhere, a large one landing between Zoro's eyes.

Mikita sat there for a while just looking at the water run by. A tear fell down her face as she wiped it away. Her emotions were so confused that she didn't know how to feel. "Why did I let this happen anyway? I should have known… and now he's mad at me. The last thing he wants is to be tied down to raising a child. It's not something I wanted either… but now it's too late. I don't know what to do." She looked back at the Merry with a sad glare as she stood up and ran off.

Zoro twitched involuntarily, and it had nothing to do with the crab pinching his forehead... although that contributed. He tossed it off of him and looked off of the Merry. _Mikita..._

Mikita was running blindly. To where, she didn't know. She just hoped that running would bring her a solution. The wateriness in her eyes blurred her vision as she ran. The tears formed small streams of sadness rolling down her cheeks as she dashed on to her unknown destination. Suddenly, she fell into a trap as she was captured. She was caught in a steel cage and a man looked at her through the bars with a smirk. "So, here you are."

Zoro twitched again. He climbed down from the bird's nest. "I'm going for a walk." He jumped off the ship, walking into the forest.

By the time he had reached the spot where Mikita was captured at, she was no longer there. Only a lock of her tail fur was in the place of where the cage was. Zoro picked up the bit of fur and glared darkly. He could judge by several marks around the area what had happened. _Whoever did this is a dead man._ Zoro felt his body change somewhat, but he wasn't sure how. But, for whatever reason, he now could smell Mikita's scent. He took off after it, and following it.

Back on the Merry, Leona was laughing hysterically at Karasu and Luffy. They had extremely puffed out and swollen lips from getting pinched by the crabs. Leona was even on her back on the deck laughing so hard. "Oh my goodness! You two look so funny! HAHAHAHAHA!"

Zoro kept on running, following the scent. When he found whoever did this to Mikita would regret it dearly. He vaguely heard voices in the distance. There was a small group of people talking among one another. "Did you hear? That evil demon had supposedly died, but now he's back in another's body," one of the men said. "Yeah. Someone said they saw pieces of his necklace flying through the sky the other day," another man added. A woman looked at the man that was speaking in worry as she replied, "Oh dear. What if he's after that girl again?"

Zoro's ears perked up as he moved silently closer to the people, trying to get more details. "There was a strange noise out there in the forest just a few minutes ago. What if he captured her again?" the woman asked. One of the men sighed. "I wouldn't doubt it. It's not so easy to get rid of Tsuyoku. He's a powerful demon." The other man cleared his throat. "Yeah, and the only way to stop him forever is to seal away the pendant. Otherwise it can just continue to reform and he can take over someone else's body, just as he did in the past several times."

"As long as he has the pendant, his powers never weaken," the other man came back in and stated. The woman looked at them. "But what does he want with that wolf girl?" The men looked at each other and one of them said, "He intends to take her back to his resident island and consume her powers. She has said to have grown in power over the last few months due to her bond with a swordsman."

Zoro was wondering where Tsuyoku's resident island was. Maybe they'd say something... as he moved closer he stepped on a dry twig, snapping it, no doubt getting the people's attention. They all turned their attention to the green wolf standing before them. The woman yelled, "It's a wolf!" "And it's… green," one of the men added. "It's an evil one sent by Tsuyoku! RUN! SOUND THE ALARM!" The people of the town ran around and screamed in terror.

Zoro blinked. _What the hell were they talking about?_ He then looked down. His swords weren't at his side. He didn't seem to be wearing anything. And he had fur. And by the looks of it, paws. A surprised howl sounded out across the forest, all the way to the Merry. Usopp looked out, shaking in terror. "Did anyone else hear that? There are wolves on this island!" Leona blinked. "Duh! Mikita." Karasu looked at Leona with her puffed out lips. "But that didn't sound like Mikita." Leona chuckled at Karasu as she tried to talk, but then she became serious as the words hit her. "You're right. That's not Miki's howl…" Usopp jumped in terror. "THEY'RE GOING TO EAT US!" He ran around the deck, panicking. Luffy looked around. "Ok! I think we should check it out!" He pointed at Nami, Karasu, and Leona. "You three should go." He had chosen them randomly for no reason, just because they were the first people he saw.

Leona sighed. "Why me?" Karasu glared at Luffy. "Sexist!" He had picked all girls to go. Leona giggled at Karasu. "Maybe you can scare them away…" Karasu leered at her sister. "Shut up and let's go." Suddenly the swelling in Karasu's lips went down. It was practically sudden. She smirked at Leona. "HA! What now? Laugh at me now!" Leona just sweatdropped and said, "Let's go."

Luffy sighed. "Fine... Usopp. You go with them." Usopp stopped running around in a panic. "WHY ME?" Luffy blinked. "Because I'm the captain and I said so." "MAKE SANJI GO!" "But Sanji's cooking..." Usopp seemed to be crying, as he walked off the ship after them.

Leona walked around in the front and soon she smelled something. "Hey… I smell Zoro's scent… and Mikita's distress. Something bad happened here." Usopp looked around nervously, his slingshot in his hand. "What...? Was it something bad…?" Karasu looked at Usopp flatly. "That's what she just said." Leona then stopped and saw a canine figure approaching in the shadows. She alerted them silently.

The figure stopped and then ran out of the shadows. Usopp screamed in terror. "AAAAHHH! A MONSTER!" He dove at a tree climbing up it. "Leona? Karasu? Nami? Usopp?" All that were coming out of the wolf's mouth though, were barks. Nami was staring at the green wolf apprehensively, holding her Clima Tact at the ready in case the wolf attacked. Karasu raised an eyebrow. "Zoro?" She could tell that it was him by the color of the fur and his scent. He sat down on his haunches, nodding and barking. Translated, he was saying 'yes'.

Leona looked at Karasu. "Can you understand what he's saying?" Karasu nodded. "Yeah. I can read his mind." Leona continued to look at Karasu expectantly. "Well, what is he saying about Mikita?" Karasu looked at Zoro and read his mind. Her eyes widened. "You can't find her?" Zoro shook his head. "No. And I also don't know how I transformed, or how to transform back!" Leona looked at Karasu. "What did he say?"

"He said that he doesn't know how he changed like this, or how to change back," Karasu replied. Leona nodded. "Oh, well you'll just have to master your transformations like Miki does. Since you're connected to her physically as her mate, you have access to her powers just as she does to yours."

Zoro cocked his head to one side. "Could either of you teach me?" Karasu blinked. "I can't teach you. I don't know Mikita's powers." Leona sighed. "We don't have time to waste for that anyway! We have to find Mikita!" Karasu nodded. "Right. I read in his mind something about taking Mikita to another island." Leona acknowledged this. "All right then. Come on! We have to get back to the ship and set sail immediately! Zoro, you'll just have to learn it on your own as we go. We can't waste time!" Leona and Karasu started running back to the Merry. Usopp also started running.

Nami on the other hand, smirked mischievously at Zoro. _Oh crap..._ He started to run after them, but not before Nami had jumped on his back. "Why waste my own strength when I can just do this. Now move it!" She dug her heels into his side, and he yelped, running very quickly.

Leona and Karasu rushed up onto the deck. "We have to find Mikita!" Karasu shouted. Zoro ran onto the ship, grateful as hell when Nami jumped off him. He didn't draw much attention to himself, simply lying down in a shadowed corner of the ship. Sanji jumped bolt upright. "WHAT? MIKITA-SAMA ISN'T HERE ANYMORE?"

"No," Leona replied in worry to Sanji. "We aren't 100 percent sure where she might be right now, but we have to search the surrounding islands." Karasu growled. "If SOMEBODY hadn't let Mikita run off like that on her own, this wouldn't have happened!" She was referring to Zoro as she glared at him. Zoro simply cowered further back in the shadows. _I do have a hint to where she is though..._ He sent the thought at Karasu. She looked at him flatly. "Well then why don't you inform me?" Leona looked at Karasu strangely. "Are you arguing with him?" Karasu nodded as she growled. "Yes."

Zoro nodded. _I heard that he was taking her back to his resident island. That's all I know._ Karasu thought for a moment. "His resident island? Where's that at?" Leona thought about it and said, "It must be the island we're originally from. Oh but it could take us days to get back there!" Leona held her head in frustration. "Who knows how much danger Mikita could be in right now and we can't get there soon enough to save her."

Nami sighed. "Well, whatever. Where is this place you're talking about?" Leona glared coldly at Nami. "It's the place where you first met us." She turned away. "Don't you 'whatever' me at a time like this. I'm not in the mood." Karasu's eyes widened and she backed away as Leona walked by angrily. The entire crew was looking at Leona with some surprise at her outbreak. Nami walked past Sanji as she headed to the helm of the ship. "You should go talk to her. You're the best candidate."

Leona sat in her own little corner of the ship as she glared at the deck's floor. _This is all Zoro's fault. He should have known better than to let Mikita go off like that by herself and ignore her like that. The nerve of that bastard getting my sister pregnant and then letting her get kidnapped. I can't believe he doesn't care as much as he should be right now. _Her hands clenched into fists as her hair covered her eyes. _And here I was thinking she had it better off than me. _

Sanji walked over to Leona. "What's wrong Leona-swan?" Leona's actions were unusual as she glared away from him. "Leave me alone." Karasu looked at Leona sadly and then glared in Zoro's direction. Zoro didn't react to Karasu's glare. He was instead, looking down at the water. The only movements he made were the rise and fall of his body as he breathed.

Sanji sat down next to Leona. "We're going to save Mikita-sama. There's nothing to be concerned about." Leona kept her face turned away from him and she didn't respond. She was too pissed off and worried.

Zoro finally got up, climbing up to the birds nest where he had slept next to Mikita. He pawed the spot she usually laid sadly. Sanji didn't leave Leona. He lit a cigarette while waiting for her to say something.

"How could he just do that to her?" Leona finally spoke up. Sanji looked at her. "Do what?" Leona shook in anger and sadness, her hair still hiding her face. "He's her mate. He knew she was upset and he didn't go after her. Now she could be…" Sanji put a hand on Leona's shoulder. "Don't get angry Leona-swan. We'll save her." _Besides, I want to be the one to kick the shit out of him for doing this._ Leona was then silent once again.

Karasu looked at Leona and then at Zoro. She read his mind and knew how bad he truly felt. She sighed and walked inside with Luffy. "Luffy… Love is stupid." Luffy turned around. "Huh? What's stupid?" Nami had now started steering the ship away from the island. Karasu shook her head. "Never mind." _I'm glad I'm not in such predicaments like my sisters are right now. I'm the lucky one._

A low howl came from the bird's nest, and in that howl there was a note of pure sadness. Karasu looked up at the bird's nest and she felt her eyes watering up, so she blinked the tears away. Leona had also heard this, but she didn't acknowledge it. She was still too upset. There wasn't much happiness at all on the Merry at the time.

Sanji had finished with his first cigarette, throwing it over the side. "Don't get too sad, Leona-swan. We're all here for you." Leona just sighed. "That's nice," she stated with a hint of sarcasm. Sanji looked at her surprised. "Leona-swan?" Leona sighed. "What?" Her tone still sounded irritated. Sanji looked at her. "What's gotten into you Leona-swan?" Leona looked at him and then turned away again. "Nothing." She then sounded more sad instead of mad. Sanji rested a hand on her shoulder. "Do you need time alone?" Leona shrugged. "Why not? It will just go along with the rest of my times alone." She sighed.

Sanji didn't get up at that comment. "Leona-swan... something's wrong. I can tell." Leona held her bracelets tightly in her hand and turned farther away, burying her face in her hands. "Just go away." Her voice was almost a whisper. Sanji looked at the bracelets in her hand and his face saddened. As he got up and started walking off he made one last comment. "I don't think this is what he'd want Leona-swan."

"It's not about him…" Leona stated back. Sanji stopped for a moment. "Still... even if it isn't about him, he wouldn't have wanted to see you like this." He lit another cigarette as he continued to walk away. Leona just watched him as he left and looked at her bracelets. She closed her eyes tightly as she dropped them into the waters below, along with her memories of Lutious. A tear fell along with her memory. "Now another mistake won't befall me…" The bracelets washed away under the motions of the brisk waters.

Sanji walked into the kitchens, lighting another cigarette. He leaned against the wall and was silent, going through his own thoughts. Zoro let out another mournful howl up in the birds nest. Leona watched the bracelets wash away within the waves as her face held a blank, emotionless stare. She looked out into the waters until her treasured trinkets were no longer in sight.

Karasu just sat inside with her chin rested on her folded arms that were propped up on her knees. All the negativity around her was affecting her as well and she was unable to be her cheery self. Finally Zoro ceased his occasional howls, falling asleep next to where Mikita normally slept.

After several days, the island began to come into sight. Granted Zoro was no closer to learning how to transform back, but that suited him fine. He'd just have to rip Tsuyoku apart with his fangs.

Nami called Karasu and Leona up. "We'll be on the island in an hour." Leona sat on that very same spot on the Merry's deck as she nodded and looked back out at the waters. Karasu was playing with a pebble using her telekinesis. "Okay," she replied, not taking her eyes off the pebble. Perhaps it was distracting to her so that she wouldn't be in such thought like the others.

Within a very short amount of time, the Merry dropped anchor off shore of the island. Leona looked out at the island. "I'll fly ahead and see if I can find her." Leona used her shape shifting abilities to transform into a black raven and fly off the ship. She rarely used these abilities, but this time she found it necessary. Karasu grinned. "She's a me!" Karasu felt the need to state that, considering her name meant 'raven'.

Zoro hadn't waited for anybody, instead jumping off the ship, and sniffing around for Mikita's scent. Leona flew ahead, making the occasional sounds of a crow. That is, until she was shot down by an arrow. She squawked and spun down toward the ground. Zoro shot off like a bullet when he saw that happen. However, fast as he was, a certain cook was even faster. "Leona-swan!" Leona fell into Sanji's arms and the arrow remained through her. Karasu came up to them. "Leona! Oh no… that arrow. It's an ice arrow. Her weakness… OUR weakness. Her powers are now frozen up and dormant, but we can't remove the arrow just yet or she'll die. We have to have Mikita here to heal her."

Sanji glared furiously into the distance along with Zoro. Zoro turned to look at her. "Karasu, you should stay on the ship with Leona and Chopper. I guess the rest of us will go after Tsuyoku." Karasu let out a sound of disappointment as she took Leona into her arms. "Oh well. At least I'll probably be the lucky one again that doesn't get injured." She chuckled, but not for long since this was a serious situation.

Luffy nodded at her. "Usopp! Nami! Robin! You guys come too! Let's go!" The crew headed out into the forest, using Nami's map of the island (which she'd drawn herself) and Zoro's nose now. Zoro noticed that Mikita's scent was getting much stronger.

An entire line of enemies appeared before them. There were many, over a hundred, and it wasn't possible to make a number count as they surrounded the crew. Luffy grinned. "Get down!" He slammed his feet into the ground and started winding himself up, much like one does to a swing. He then grabbed a boulder. The Strawhat crew got as low as they could, covering their heads. "Gomu Gomu no Pinwheel!" He then wrenched the rock out of the ground and his body unwound, extremely quickly, sending the rock smashing into the ranks of the army, ripping a huge chunk out of it. He then released the boulder, which rampaged through more of the army, knocking men down like ninepins.

Another advancing group of enemies leaped from the trees and formed from the ground. There were even more than the previous time. At once, arms started emerging from the soldiers' backs and breaking their necks, one after the other. Luffy charged into them headlong. "Gomu Gomu no Gatling Gun!" He sent off a series of rapid punches, knocking them flying. Sanji sent man after man flying with his kicks. Nami and Usopp... well they stayed as far back as they possibly could from the battle. However, they fought too when necessary. Usopp hurled a breath dial into a larger group of soldiers then readied his slingshot. "Flame Star!" He shot a burning pellet, which ignited the gas. A massive explosion ensued. Nami was using the thunderbolt Tempo to rain lightning down on the enemy.

As for Zoro, he had already made it halfway through the soldiers. He wasn't bothering to fight when he could avoid it. He had mauled a few men, but he'd killed far less than any of the others. The strange thing is: The enemies made no advances to attack Zoro. It was almost as if they were expecting him. As the rest of the crew fought off the enemies that held them back, a trap hole appeared before the green wolf and he was sent down into an underground chamber.

Zoro fell down with a startled yelp. He growled and started to climb back up the hole, digging his claws and fangs into the dirt as he climbed. The dirt was too grainy and soft, so this resulted in him slipping back down to the floor of the underground dome. There was a tunnel ahead that seemed to lead to a particular direction. Zoro growled at the hole. He didn't go through the tunnel for concern it would also be a trap. He started to howl to get the attention of the other Strawhats. However, the only one who reacted to his howl was Luffy, and even though he was now trying to get to Zoro, there were a number of men between him and the wolf.

Suddenly, the hole that Zoro had fallen into grew over up at the surface. The sounds of crystalling ice echoed through the tunnel. Zoro growled again, turning and sniffing again for Mikita's scent. The trail of her scent came from the direction of the hardening ice. The air inside there was foggy from the cold, meaning that Mikita probably wasn't in a very good situation in there due to colder temperatures and ice being her weakness. Zoro growled and took off down the tunnel.

The temperatures dropped to an even colder degree within the direction that Zoro was running. The cloud of fog from the coldness dissipated just enough for his line of sight to meet an icy glass enclosure. Inside it, Mikita was floating upright within freezing waters. There was a relaxed expression on her face as her hair floated around her. Zoro ran over to her prison. "Mikita!" Her eyes were shut as icy air bubbles clung to her eyelashes. Her arms gracefully flowed at her side as her head hung low just slightly. Zoro started to claw and scratch at her prison, to try and dig a hole into it.

This chamber was frozen and packed tight. Not even a small sliver of ice was moved. It remained as still as Mikita's expression. "I wouldn't even bother if I were you," a familiar voice stated from behind him. Zoro turned around, growling furiously at Tsuyoku. "It took you long enough to get here," Mikita's evil father stated as he smirked at the green wolf. "Your dear miss Miki is frozen and dormant until further notice." He had that evil disposition as he stroked the pendant on his necklace, the pendant that Mikita had once shattered.

Zoro's eyes flashed furiously. He leaped up at Tsuyoku, his fangs bared. He was going to tear out the bastard's throat. Tsuyoku drew a sword with swift speed and locked it horizontally in Zoro's jaw. "It came to my attention and surprise that Mikita is in fact with child now. It is because of you, am I right?" An evil grin curled upon his lips. "She became trapped here in this prison of her weakness. It is because of you, I am assuming?"

Zoro bit down on the sword, starting to crack it. He wrenched at it to rip the sword from Tsuyoku's grip. Tsuyoku held strong to it as he ripped it away from the wolf's jaws and continued to get to him with his words. "How do you think poor little Miki feels now? Her heart is frozen, broken… It's all your fault." He peered into Zoro's eyes with a cold stare. "You've become one of those males that she so despises. I tell you no lie. I read her mind and I know this for a fact. Why, she had no objections to being locked up in this prison. She had rather wanted it that way to release herself from the fears of ruining your dream. She feels that there's just no room for her in this world now that she means nothing to you." He kept his evil expression as he added to the sword's strength and repaired it with alchemy, swiping his hand over the blade and nearly touching it. "The poor girl's dreams… crushed." He was attempting to nail a guilt trip on Zoro's heart.

Tsuyoku's words were striking home, but it only served to make Zoro angrier. He lunged past his guard with surprising speed, mauling Tsuyoku's shoulder so badly that the bone was showing through. Tsuyoku smirked. He felt the pain, yes. However, he thrived on it. "That's it. Show me your power. Let me behold your strength that will soon be mine." He ripped the wolf off of him and tossed him forcefully into the wall. "That's why I didn't kill off your lovely mate just yet. I couldn't… but now that her other half has arrived, I will gain access to her powers, as well as yours mortal swordsman."

Strange tentacle-like attachments grew from Tsuyoku's injured shoulder as they pulled the incredibly large wound back together. He smirked as he held the sword. "Perhaps this form will better appeal to you." He altered his looks to where he looked like Zoro's greatest rival, Mihawk. "This may give you a glimpse of how hopeless you are to defeat me."

Zoro's eyes grew even more furious. He wasn't even conscious of his form reverting, but in moments he was human again, grabbing the hilts of both Yubashiri and Sandai Kitetsu. "Nitouryu Iai: Rashoumon!" He unleashed two parallel slashes that were so powerful they could split solid steel. These slashes sliced straight through Tsuyoku's stomach, but he simply formed his body back together and smirked. "Mikita learned the hard way, and now you will too." He sent a raging blast of fire at Zoro that traveled with incredible speed. The heat, when coming into contact with his colder temperatured body, would be enough to send someone into shock. Zoro's eyes widened as he crashed into the wall, almost immobilized by the attack.

Tsuyoku grinned with an evil smile of success. "So this was all it took eh? Pathetic." As he stepped closer to Zoro, his pendant flashed colors due to light reflection. As he stepped closer to the swordsman, there was a strange shaking like an earthquake. Tsuyoku seemed shocked by this, signaling that he wasn't the one that caused it. "What the…?" He focused his eyes on the icy chamber that held Mikita. The enclosure was turning red and the water was bubbling, as if heat or fire were being added to it. The icy prison began to crack in various places before it finally shattered, spilling Mikita out onto the floor as she coughed and spit out water.

Zoro took advantage of the distraction, and he sent a thrust straight at Tsuyoku's heart. The sword struck true, but Tsuyoku did nothing but lightly flinch as he glared at Zoro. "Foolish human." He kicked his leg out and threw Zoro aside once again, healing over the wound in his chest. "Do you not learn from your mistakes?"

"He may not… but I do," Mikita stated weakly. She was now on her hands and knees trying to stand. As she got to her feet, her body was flaming red all around her, keeping her warm from the cold. However, this put her at risk of shock at any moment, so she knew she had to act quickly. Her eyes opened as they flashed red hues toward her father. Her will and fury was enough to keep her going. She drew her Dragon Tail and dashed at him with lightning speed, slashing his body with frequent slashes and cuts. Tsuyoku smirked. "Apparently you didn't learn anything from our last battle." He blocked her sword with his as he glared into her eyes.

Mikita returned the dark glare, but then she smirked as she ripped the necklace from his neck by the pendant. It took a great, forceful jerk and it wasn't easy, but the chain luckily snapped and the battle went in her favor. "No…" He growled. Tsuyoku's eyes went wide as his form began to shift from Mihawk's appearance to his own, then to some random guy's form as he fell to the ground.

Mikita stood there as she clenched the pendant, looking down at her fist with a light glare. Her stare was typically emotionless and unreadable. Before she could do anything else however, the pendant yanked itself from her grip and flew up toward the ceiling rather quickly. It emitted a strange light as it busted a large hole through the roof and the ground above. Mikita watched it as it disappeared from sight.

Zoro panted, before the shock of the burning flame and the freezing cold of the area got to him. His eyes closed and he collapsed. Mikita still glared up at the hole in the ceiling as she clenched her fist where the pendant recently was. She then growled and leaped up through the hole and landed shakily as she looked around for any sign of his pendant. It was long gone. "Damn it," she stated before falling unconscious herself.


	19. Chapter 19

Zoro's eyes opened. His vision was still blurry, but it was getting clearer quickly. The first thing he realized was that the room seemed to be moving. Then he realized it was moving. He recognized the room as the one on the Merry. Karasu looked down at him. "Oh good. You're awake," she grinned. Zoro tried to get up, rising shakily. "Is Mikita alright?" Karasu pointed with her thumb over her shoulder toward the Merry's deck casually.

Mikita was outside with Sanji and Leona. Leona was still in the raven's form and she had the arrow through her chest. Mikita had her eyes closed in concentration, trying to seek out the safest way to pull out the arrow without it causing too much damage to her insides. She opened her eyes once more and ripped the arrow out with a swift motion, quickly placing her hand over the wound and healing it over. The crow's eyes opened and she blinked them. Mikita smiled and handed her to Sanji. "She'll be fine now." Sanji gradually took Leona from Mikita, stepping back. "Leona-swan?"

Zoro groaned, falling back. "What happened?" Karasu looked at him. "You passed out and you were in shock. They found Mikita by a hole and found you inside the hole." Karasu then grinned and danced back and forth as she stood up. "I'm the only one that didn't get hurt." Not long after she said that, she tripped over a floorboard and fell. "Dangit!"

Leona flew from Sanji's hands and landed on the deck, transforming back into her usual self. "Yay! Thanks Miki!" She ran and hugged her sister, making her shake and wobble from weakness. Mikita stood her ground and hugged back lightly. "Yeah. It was no problem. Really." Leona looked into Mikita's eyes with a smile. "I'm just so relieved that you're all right." Mikita nodded and Leona then looked at her seriously. "You need to lie down and get you some rest now. Okay?"

"All right," Mikita agreed as she went up to the crow's nest and curled up. Zoro edged out of bed and stood shakily. He walked towards the mast and started climbing edgily towards the bird's nest.

Sanji walked over to Leona giving her a brief hug before letting go. "I'm glad you're alright Leona-swan." Leona smiled lightly at Sanji. "Me too… thanks."

Mikita was resting up in the bird's nest as she stared in front of her with an emotionless stare. She was now sitting up and looking out at the island. Zoro climbed up into the nest next to her. He looked at her sadly. "Hi." Mikita looked at him and tried to force a smile, but it barely made its way upon her lips. "Hi…" She didn't make eye contact for very long before looking aside with a saddened gaze. Zoro looked away from her. He was feeling guilty about what he'd done. Or rather, what Tsuyoku had told him he'd done. Mikita's eyes started to well up with tears, but she quickly blinked them away. She took a breath in and let it back out slowly.

Zoro was still avoiding making eye contact. "I'm sorry." Mikita felt the tears forcing their way back into her eyes and she couldn't keep them back as well this time. "I-It's okay… You were scared. This is all new and… you didn't know what to feel. I understand." She kept her face turned away as a tear fell down her cheek, landing on the back of her hand. Zoro gently folded his arms around Mikita. "I still love you, no matter what happens."

Down below, Usopp and Chopper were carrying a massive tuna that they'd caught to Sanji. Leona's eyes were drawn to something glowing in the fish's mouth. "What are…?" Then the two of them carried it inside and the fish vanished from view. Leona watched them carry it away and she shook her head. Chopper walked back out and looked up at Leona. "Something wrong Leona?" Leona shook her head again. "No, nothing's wrong. I'm fine." She smiled lightly and walked away. As she stood there and looked over the ship's railing, she thought about things to herself. _I wanted to forget those memories, and now they've washed back upon the shore of my life._ She sighed.

Mikita was hugging Zoro back in return as she cried. "I'm sorry too. I… I never should have… let this happen." She heaved in a breath. "I thought you hated me…" Zoro hugged back. "Of course I don't hate you." Mikita hugged tighter as her voice held the crying tone. "When you didn't want to talk to me… I thought you were angry and… I just wanted to die." She had such sad emphasis with those words as her eyes let out more tears of heartbreak. Zoro shook his head. "I told you I wasn't angry about this." Mikita heaved and sniffed. "But I thought that… you were just lying to me… to hide your feelings from me. It never hurt me so bad in my life… until I thought that…" She ended her sentence before she repeated herself again. Zoro stroked her hair. "I love you Mikita. That won't change."

In the kitchen, Sanji was preparing the fish for a meal. As he cut it, he felt the knife glance off something metal inside. "Hmm? What did this guy eat?" He opened up the fish where the knife had gone in and his eyes widened.

Leona stood and looked out the railing at the island. Karasu was in the background jumping around and saying, "Luffy! I bet I'm luckier than you!" Luffy blinked. "How do we prove that?" Karasu shrugged. "I dunno. We can go through an angry pit of lions and whoever doesn't get attacked is the luckiest." Leona rolled her eyes. "Karasu, that's a stupid idea." Karasu grinned. "No, it's genius!" Luffy thought for a second. "Or we could throw a bomb in the air and see who it lands on."

"Or we could jump into the water and see who gets attacked by the shark," Karasu replied. Luffy frowned. "No, I can't swim...wait! We could drink poison and see which one of us dies!"

"We could aggravate a pit bull and see which one of us that it decides to attack!" Luffy paused. "We could throw a pineapple into the air and see whose mouth it lands on."

"We could hit our heads against the wall repeatedly until one of us passes out." Luffy grinned. "Let's do that!" Zoro sweatdropped. "Wait, this could be entertaining... Luffy's rubber head won't get hurt, but her hard head isn't going down easy either." Karasu grinned. "All right! Need I remind you that I've headbanged all my life… and… GO!" They started bashing their heads against the wall and Mikita stared at them strangely. "This is just too stupid." She lay down next to Zoro and closed her eyes.

Oddly enough, a crowd actually gathered to watch. Luffy's head flattened out to absorb the impact every time his head hit, and Karasu... well... her head was just too hard. Leona chuckled. "You two are going to have to think of something else because this isn't phasing either of you." Karasu stopped and pondered. "Okay, well we could bitten by a cobra and see who dies!"

Sanji walked out and started passing out the cooked tuna to everyone. He didn't mention what he'd found inside of it, and kept the thoughts hidden so Karasu couldn't pick them up. Leona nodded at him and took hers. "Thanks." She then sat down with it and started eating it.

Luffy paused. "Let's see... we could jump off a cliff and see who's in better shape afterwards." Karasu chuckled. "Or we could get smashed by a ten thousand ton boulder and see who lives." Luffy thought. "Yeah! Let's do that! But we'll need something that weighs ten thousand pounds..." Karasu shrugged. "We could always jump into a pool of toxic waste and see who comes out the cutest." Luffy thought. "Or... or... or we could wake up Zoro while he's sleeping and see who he yells at!" Zoro glared. "I'm awake! I can hear what you're saying you idiots!"

Karasu blinked. "But he yelled at both of us…" She thought about it again. "Maybe we could steal sodas and see who wins the sweepstakes that's marked on the lid." Luffy grinned. "Sure!" He looked at Nami. "Head for the nearest soda shop!" Zoro glared. "They haven't been invented yet you idiot." Karasu sighed. "Another one down the drain… Hey! Maybe we could sing karaoke and see who the audience likes better, enough to throw the roses at our feet!"

Leona blinked. "There's no end to this is there?" Karasu then stood up. "No wait! I got a better idea! We could step on a field of land mines and see who explodes first!" Luffy grinned. "Ok!" He paused. "Wait, I don't know of any mine fields..." Zoro looked at Mikita. "Ok, this is just getting stupid." Mikita smirked. "_Getting_ stupid?" Zoro shrugged. "Good point." Mikita looked up at him. She had so many things she wanted to ask him, but she was nervous to. Zoro looked at Mikita with an understanding gaze, letting her know that she could ask him anything.

"Zoro… do you think I will make a good mother?" she asked him with a serious, yet nervous expression. Zoro looked at her surprised. "Yeah, sure I do." Mikita swallowed and nodded, not bothering to ask another question as she closed her eyes. Zoro smiled as he let her fall asleep.

Sanji looked at Leona. "Leona-swan? Can I talk to you in private for a moment?" Leona blinked at him and nodded. "Of course." She got up and followed him. Sanji took her into the Merry below deck and looked at her. He reached into his pockets shuffling around for a moment. "When I was cutting up the fish that Usopp and Chopper caught, I found these inside and recognized them immediately." He pulled out Leona and Lutious's bracelets. Leona's expression saddened as she looked away from them.

Sanji also cast a downward glance. "I think these will continue to come back to you, no matter how many times you try to discard them." Leona looked at him. "I was only trying to follow your advice and let go of the memories… I can't make the same mistake twice, though I've come close to it. That's why I thought that if I dropped them overboard… I could just let it all go and not have to worry about it happening again."

Sanji slowly placed them in Leona's hand. "So, you never plan to love again?" Leona looked at him sadly. "I thought I could, but… I don't guess I ever will be able to." She held the bracelets close to her heart as she closed her eyes tightly. "The thought of you and I, it would just… be another mistake. I've been down that road once before and I just can't go back." Sanji looked at her. "I don't want to see you like this Leona-swan, and I don't think he would either. And the resolve you've made? It's not what he'd have wanted." He turned to walk away.

"Then you shouldn't have brought them back to me!" Leona shouted with tears in her eyes. "You shouldn't have returned to me the hopeless expectancy of being someone's number one." Sanji paused. "They would have found their way back to you eventually Leona-swan. If not through me, then through another measure." Leona looked at him. "And what if they didn't? You could have simply kept them from me… just as you've kept away the simple concept of love from my heart."

Sanji smirked, even though his back was to Leona. "No. They would have. I have no doubt they'd have found their way back to you Leona." He had, noticeably and deliberately, not used his usual ending suffix to her name. Leona blinked at him through watery eyes. "Sanji…?" He turned to look at her, his eyes full of sympathy for her. "Yes?" Leona looked down and fiddled with the bracelets. "How do you feel about me… compared to other girls?" Sanji stared at her in confusion to the question. He wasn't sure how to answer it.

Leona looked down, hurt even more inside. "See? That is why I can't make another mistake…" She stood up and started walking away. "I will find some way to keep these from me. They can't return to me… They just can't." Sanji moved forward. "No, Leona, wait!" Leona stopped, but she didn't turn back around. Sanji paused, as if gathering his thoughts. "...Yes." Leona looked back at him hurt and confused. "Yes what?" Sanji stepped towards her. "Yes, to your previous question."

Leona still seemed confused. "Yes you understand why I can't make another mistake?" Sanji nodded to her. "I do..." Leona blinked at him. "Sanji, you're confusing me… What are you trying to say?" Sanji turned her so that she faced him. "I like you even more than the other women I've met." Leona nodded. "Of course you do, but I'm merely the larger catch of the day." She put it in terms that related to cooking so that he would more understand her. Sanji looked surprised at her response. He was silent.

Leona just looked back down at her bracelets sadly. She then looked back up at him and glared lightly. "Are you going to try and stop me again for no good reason or can I go and dispose of these now?" Sanji looked at Leona sadly, and then walked past her without saying anything. Leona watched him walk away and she glared at him. "Here I am playing the fool once again." She turned her head back around as she glared at the floor. She fell to the ground as she sat there and cried, throwing the bracelets against the wall and screaming out in anger and sadness.

Zoro picked that convenient moment to walk in. One of the bracelets collided with the side of his head. "Ouch! Geez..." Leona looked up at him with a sad glare as she picked up her bracelets. "What are you doing in here? Why aren't you with Mikita? I figured that you'd learn not to leave her side by now." Her glare grew darker and she seemed to be developing more of anger towards men in general.

Zoro rubbed the side of his head where he'd been hit. "We don't have anything to drink in the birds nest. I was going to see what there was." He glared at her. "And what are you doing down here?" Leona kept a dark stare as she stood up. "What does it matter to you? Just leave me alone." As she turned to walk away, she commented, "And don't you ever let something like that happen to Mikita again." She then walked out of the cabin.

Zoro looked at her oddly as she left. _What's gotten into her?_ He walked down into the storage room of the ship and grabbed a bottle of beer, drinking it down and tossing it over the side of the ship. He then walked back up towards the mast to climb back up to the nest. Karasu watched them strangely. "This is just too weird."

As Zoro returned to the crow's nest, Mikita opened her eyes and noticed his expression. "What's got you so baffled?" Zoro shrugged. "Your sister. And not the idiot one this time." Mikita sat up and raised an eyebrow. "Leona's acting strange?" Zoro nodded. "She seemed pretty pissed at Sanji, and I just recently saw her hurling a pair of bracelets against a wall. They left a mark on me at that..." He rubbed the spot where Leona had hit him again. Mikita blinked. "Why would she be…?" She paused her own question as she got down from the bird's nest. She was curious to know what was bugging Leona.

Leona was sitting in a secluded area of the ship, holding onto the bracelets with a blank, yet inner angered stare. Mikita sat down next to her. "Leona… Leo? What's wrong?" Leona didn't look at Mikita, but instead she stared at a random area of the ship's floor. "I should never expect Sanji to love me… only me, or anyone for that matter." Mikita looked at her with partial surprise. "What do you mean Leona?"

Leona looked at Mikita's hand as she turned her palm up and put the bracelets in Mikita's hand, closing her hand. "Here. You take these. They may come in handy for you one day. I've taught you what to do with them. You can strengthen your bond spiritually with Zoro if you wish. If not, then just throw them out. I have no use for them. Just keep them away from me." Leona turned away and Mikita looked at her sadly. "Leona…" Zoro looked away from Mikita, letting her have some time alone with Leona. Mikita looked down at the bracelets. "Leona, I can't accept these. They're yours. They may still hold some of yours and Lutious's auras in them."

"No… I made sure to remove them from the bracelets. Feel free to sense them out yourself," Leona replied. "Just don't bring them back to me." Mikita paused for a moment. "Leona…" Leona sighed. "Just let me be alone." Mikita nodded and got up, looking at Leona for a bit before turning away and returning to the bird's nest with Zoro. She looked at the bracelets in her hands and then at Leona on deck. "This is so unlike her. I never thought she'd give up her dream…" Zoro looked at Mikita curiously. "What was her dream?"

"She wanted to see everyone happy with someone, including having the chance to be someone's one and only love herself," Mikita replied. "She always tried to set an example for me and Karasu. She's like our mother. She always had a positive outlook on life, but now she's hurt." She looked at Zoro. "I've never seen her like this." Zoro looked at her sadly. "Is there anything we can do?" Mikita shook her head. "It's like she always said. Time. That's all we have. She just needs to think by herself for a while." Zoro nodded. "I guess so..."

Karasu saw Leona out on the deck in her depression and sighed. _I wish there was something I could do… _She then smiled widely as she ran out on the deck in front of Leona with a grin. "Hey Leona. Do you want to see something funny?" Leona just looked at her, staring blankly toward her. "I'll take that as a yes," Karasu said before she took in a deep breath and smashed onto her face on the floor. Leona just stared at her and blinked. Karasu looked up at her, hoping to hear a chuckle or see a grin upon her face. Nothing.

Zoro watched Karasu's antics sadly. _Not even a trace of a grin..._ Mikita blinked. "Well I could fall face-first from here and yell 'spleeeeee'!" Zoro smirked, and set a hand behind her as if to push her off, then pulled it back. "Nah, I wouldn't do it if you're pregnant." Mikita sighed. "Guess not."

Karasu thought for a moment and then smiled again. _I know!_ The light bulb came on in her head as she tried another method of laughter to humor Leona. "This is my cute face!" She squished in her cheeks and her mouth looked like a puffer fish. Leona still simply stared, soon looking back down at the floor. An empty bottle of rum went flying from the bird's nest, hitting Karasu in the head.

"OW!" was Karasu's response as she looked up at Zoro and flipped him off, grumbling to herself angrily. She then tripped over the bottle and slid into Luffy. Luffy jumped up, waking with a start. His arm shot out like a bullet, which collided with the sleeping Chopper. He jumped up, his horns digging into Usopp's butt. Usopp jumped up screaming like an idiot and accidentally kicked his newest weapon, the amnesia star. A weapon made to remove an enemy's memory temporarily. And the amnesia star coincidentally went flying right into Leona's face.

Leona was hit straight on with it as she fell forward onto the deck. There was silence and Mikita looked down and blinked at the chaos below. Usopp stared. "Oops." There was a dead silence, as if to see what had happened. Leona sat up and shook her head as she held it, moaning in pain. There was still a silence.

Nami, who had seen the whole thing, cautiously stepped forwards. "Are you alright Leona?" Leona sat there looking ahead, blinking a couple of times. She then looked at Nami as if she were confused. "Do I know you?" Nami paused for a second. "Of course you do. We've been sailing with each other for several months..." She sent a glance at Karasu as if to ask her what was going on. Karasu just shrugged and looked at Leona.

"Sailing? Really?" Leona replied as she looked around her. She seemed as if it were all new to her. Nami, Sanji and Zoro all went over to Usopp, pinning him against a wall. "What. Did. You. Do?" Usopp sweatdropped. "That's my amnesia star... she doesn't remember anything..." Sanji yelled at Usopp now. "THEN CURE HER!" Usopp tried backing away. "I can't I don't have an antidote..." "THEN WHEN WILL IT WEAR OFF?" Usopp's face went pale. "Err... well... see... there's a few bugs I'm working out... and..." Sanji interjected. "WHEN?" Usopp looked at him nervously. "At the earliest... at least eighty years."

Leona looked at all of them. "Who are all of you? Where am I? Are you sure I know you?" The voices of Usopp, Zoro, and Nami sounded in unison. "YES!" Leona blinked at them. "Oh… well who are you then… and who am I?"

Karasu was unaware of any of this as she had fallen asleep, thanks to her narcolepsy. Mikita looked down at Karasu's sleeping body. "If it weren't for her sleeping disorder, she might be awake right now and able to help us out since that's one of her specialties." Zoro smirked at Mikita from the deck. "Can I try to wake her up? Please?" Mikita shrugged. "As you please."

Sanji and Nami were busy explaining to Leona where she was, who she was, and who they were. Surprisingly, Sanji retained some honor in this, not stretching the truth at all when it came to his own relationship to her, which surprised them. Leona looked at them strangely. "I'm a what now?" Mikita sweatdropped. They continued to tell Leona about her past.

Zoro smirked and approached Karasu. He positioned himself so that he was speaking right into her ear. "KARASU! LUFFY'S RUNNING OFF WITH YOUR WATERMELONS! AND HE MADE YOU HIDEOUS!" This probably wasn't the smartest thing to do around Karasu. Her first impulse was to smack him across the face. The swift motions of her unconscious sleeping movements were nearly impossible to dodge.

Zoro went flying into the rail of the Merry and looked to see if she'd woken up. Karasu was still knocked out, unaware of her surroundings. Mikita smirked. "Hmm… interesting. This will be quite entertaining after all." Zoro smirked getting up and shaking his head a bit. "This'll be great practice for my pain tolerance. She can really do some damage!" He walked over to Karasu and yelled in her ear again. "IF YOU DON'T WAKE UP, LUFFY'LL STEAL AWAY ALL OF YOUR CUTIES!" This time, Karasu's motion was a hard, swift punch in the jaw as she rolled over onto her other side. Mikita watched in amusement. "Ooh…"

Zoro crashed into the mast again. "I wonder..." He noticed Luffy asleep again. He snickered as he came behind Karasu, lifting her up from the back to prevent her striking him and slowly carrying her over towards Luffy. Mikita watched in curiosity, wondering what he was going to do. Zoro smirked, laying Karasu down next to Luffy and then pushing their heads together so that their lips were inches apart. For added measure he put their arms around each other. "This should hopefully yield interesting results when they wake up again." He said, walking back to Mikita.

"Ooh… sneaky," Mikita replied with a smirk as Zoro returned back to the bird's nest with her. She moved closer to him. "One of the many reasons I like you." She nudged him and purred, sliding her cheek across his. Zoro smiled at her, kissing her cheek lightly.

Sanji and Nami had finished describing Leona's past with them to her. Sanji had mercifully left out certain parts, including the witch, the meaning of her bracelets, and her past with Lutious. Leona looked at them sadly. "What good does it do me if I don't remember any of this?" Sanji smiled at her. "It helps give you an idea of who you are, Leona-swan." Nami nodded and whispered in her ear. "That's what he likes to call you."

"Oh. Is it like a nickname of love or a nickname of friends?" Leona asked curiously. Sanji nodded. "Yes it is, Leona-swan." He didn't specify which one it meant. Leona just stared and then nodded. "Okay… well what is my goal in life?" Mikita turned her attention to Leona when she heard that. She looked down at her sadly, unsure of what the others would tell her in response. Sanji exchanged a glance with Nami. "You never told us... but your sisters would know..." Zoro looked at Mikita, and gave her a nod. If she wanted to lie, that was up to her.

Mikita took a breath and went down on deck, standing in front of Leona. "Leona… your goal in life is…" Mikita paused, but before she could finish, she was interrupted by the screaming of Luffy and Karasu as she directed her attention to them. Objects ended up being broken and smashed, even the amnesia star was in Karasu's tripping reach. "Shit!" After that, you hear another loud thump and Karasu's grumbling.

Zoro was laughing his head off at the two of them. Even Robin, who'd been woken up, couldn't suppress her laughter. Karasu glared at everyone. "All right! Who did it? Whose bright idea was it?" She read the minds of everyone there and her sight directed to Zoro with a cold stare. "You…" Zoro blinked, keeping his mind as blank as possible. "Who? Me?" Karasu leered up at him. "You just wait until I get a hold of you! I'll—!" Before she finished her sentence, she fell over asleep once again. Zoro sweatdropped. "Close call." Mikita smirked at him. "Don't think you're off the hook. She won't forget." Zoro smirked. "Oh well. I may as well get some laughs out of it, while I can. Maybe I can frame Ero-cook for something worse..."

Sanji looked at Leona. "You should get some rest Leona-swan." Leona looked at him. "I need to rest? What for?" Sanji looked at her. "Maybe it'll help you regain your memories." Leona nodded. "Okay. I'll go lie down for while…" Sanji smiled as Leona walked off. Usopp came behind him. "Oi, Sanji why didn't you—" Usopp was then struck in the face with a kick which knocked him back to his room.

Leona laid her head down with a blank stare, as if she didn't remember anything… and she didn't. Oddly though, she felt as if something was missing as she put a hand over her bare wrist where the bracelet once resided. What if she were to never be able to remember anything again?


	20. Chapter 20

As two weeks went by, Leona hadn't been able to remember much of anything but her name and what type of demon she was: Fire demon mixed with Sanjian blood. She tried to remember herself though as she listened to the feedback of the others. "Sanji? How did I create a 'fire whip' with my aura? Karasu said I used to do that." Sanji shrugged. "I'm not sure. I know you could, but I wouldn't know how." He nodded in Mikita's direction. "I bet your sister could though."

"PERVERT! Make me a tuna sandwich… WITH CHEESE ON IT!" Mikita yelled at Sanji. Her maternal appetite was kicking in and she had weird cravings. Not to mention she was moody and almost always hungry. Sanji bolted off into the kitchens to make something for Mikita. Mikita chuckled and walked over to Leona. "So, you want to know how you made your fire whip, do you?" Leona nodded with a light smile. Mikita then shrugged and walked off. "Well you'll have to figure it out yourself because I don't know how you did it." Leona just blinked at her as she walked off, considering that she wasn't of much assistance. She sighed. _Looks like I'll never remember anything at this rate. I wish I knew who I was._

Usopp punched his fist in the air triumphantly. "I'm getting it!" Leona looked at Usopp. "Getting what?" Karasu went up to Leona. "Pull my finger!" She held out her finger to Leona. Leona shrugged and pulled Karasu's finger. Karasu didn't do anything but stare emotionlessly when her finger was pulled. Leona raised an eyebrow. "You didn't do anything." Karasu raised an eyebrow in return. "I was supposed to do something?" Leona shrugged. "How should I know? I barely know who I am."

Usopp ran over to Leona, clutching a new looking pellet. Leona blinked at it. "What's that for?" Usopp held it out to her. "It might help you regain at least some of your memories. Just wait one second..." He cracked it open and threw a light powder at Leona for her to breath in. It would hopefully bring back a few memories, even though it probably wouldn't bring back all of them. Usopp was still working on that.

Leona smelled of it and sneezed as she stood there and blinked, rubbing her nose. Karasu looked at her. "Well, did it work?" Leona stood there for a moment as she paused. "A couple of things are coming back to me…" Sanji came out of the kitchens with Mikita's sandwich and gave it to her. Usopp nodded. "Like?" Leona thought for a moment. "Well… I remember my childhood, I remember what all I can do with my powers, I remember Mikita and Karasu… and that's about it." Sanji let out a partial sigh of relief. She hadn't remembered about Lutious.

"Oh and the name 'Lutious' comes to mind, but I don't know why exactly," Leona added. Karasu smirked at Sanji. "So much for that thought eh?" Zoro answered before Sanji could respond to Karasu. "STOP READING OUR MINDS!" Karasu shrugged. "It's too easy, plus it's just there ya know?" Leona smirked at Karasu. "Yeah I definitely remember you now. So, who was this 'Lutious' person anyway?" Karasu froze and looked at Mikita, who had her sandwich paused at her mouth. She shook her head to Karasu, trying to tell her not to mention him. Karasu looked at Leona again. "You know, I really don't know all that much about who he was. Sorry." Leona nodded. "Ah, so Lutious was a guy then? At least I know that much. Thanks Kari." Karasu nodded nervously. "No problem."

Zoro muttered at Karasu darkly. From that point on, every member of the Strawhat crew started shielding their thoughts whenever Karasu was around. Karasu just looked at them and blinked. "You know, if I really was desperate enough to hear what you're thinking, I can get past whatever barriers you're putting up around your thoughts." Mikita sighed. "Don't I know it?" Karasu shrugged. "I just read the general thoughts that happen at the spur of the moment really." Zoro glared. "Well now you won't." Karasu raised a careless eyebrow. "Oh? And why is that?" Zoro glared at her. "Because now our thoughts are shielded, so that you won't 'accidentally' hear what we're thinking."

Karasu scoffed. "Pssh! There's no possible way to hide thoughts from me." Mikita sweatdropped. "She's… kinda right." Karasu pointed at Zoro in the bird's nest. "Get down here." She forced him down to the deck with her telekinesis, slamming him down face first. "Now say that to my face." Zoro stared at her. "That to your face." Karasu rolled her eyes and walked off. "And you think _I'm_ stupid."

Zoro shrugged. He'd been playing idiot on purpose but continued to shield his thoughts, throwing back any attempt Karasu made on his mind, right back at her with ease. Karasu remained with her back to him as she smirked. _He still doubts my power._

Zoro smirked as he walked off. Zoro used his will power to send Karasu's thought probes right back at her, actually reading her mind instead this time. "No I don't doubt your power." Mikita just watched everyone while eating her sandwich. Leona looked over at Mikita. "Why are you eating so rapidly?" Mikita just stared at her. "Maybe because SOMEBODY got me pregnant." She looked over at Zoro to signal her answer. Zoro half glared at her. "You went along with it just fine." Mikita shrugged. "So? It was still your fault. You're the male of this relationship."

Leona blinked at Mikita. "You're pregnant?" Mikita raised an eyebrow. "Yeah. You know that. You're the one that told everyone on the ship, remember?" Leona shook her head.

Karasu sighed in the background. "She can only remember up to a certain point of her life. Judging by what she knows so far, she seems as if she only remembers her life up to the point that Lutious came into her life. She doesn't know that much about him since she can't remember past that point."

Zoro glared at Mikita. "Well, you could have stopped me!" Mikita returned the glare. "You wouldn't give me a chance to speak up! You constantly had your tongue in my mouth!" Leona blinked. "I think I want to stay out of this one." Karasu nodded to her. "That would be wise." Zoro glared back. "Hey! You're the one who suggested it two out of three times!"

"Who says I suggested it the last time? I actually meant sparring. You're the one that had your head in the gutter," Mikita replied with a smirk. "That's two points against you, since I only had to get you started. It was your fault from that point on." Zoro glared back. "You're the one that made all the bets." Mikita smirked. "Uh-huh, and when you won, what did you suggest?" Karasu smirked. "Ooh burn." Leona just chuckled at them.

Zoro smirked. "Hey, each time I asked if you were sure you wanted to go through with it, and gave you a chance to back out, you insisted we go on with it." Mikita rolled her eyes. "Are we going to debate over whose fault it was all day?" She coughed the word 'yours' and acted non-obvious. Zoro glared. "If you keep thinking it was my fault purely, then yes!" Karasu snickered. "You know, it was both your faults." Mikita pointed to Karasu. "Oh yeah? Well you're…" She then paused and stopped pointing at Karasu. "Probably right…" She then shrugged and continued to eat her sandwich.

Zoro glared at Karasu sitting down across from Mikita. "Whatever. As long as the blame isn't pinned solely on me I'm fine with it." Karasu just smiled and shook her head. "You're so weird. I'm glad I'm not retarded and direction-impaired like you."

"But you're practically colorblind," Mikita added before she took a bite of her sandwich. Karasu glared at her. "Just because I can't tell the difference between red and purple or green and blue or… whatever colors I get confused with each other, it doesn't mean I can't see colors." Robin smiled. "Actually. That is colorblindness. People keep confusing it with not being able to see colors, but it's actually the inability to tell colors apart." Karasu sighed. "You had to bring down the moment didn't you? You know, I'm not blind to colors! I can see colors! I just can't decipher them. That should be called Color Decipher Impairment-ness." Mikita just chuckled at her. "Shut up Miki!" Karasu retorted. Robin nodded. "Then you're colorblind."

"No I'm not! I'm color-impaired-ed-ed!" Karasu yelled back. Leona smirked. "There's no getting to Karasu once she gets into an argument." Mikita smirked at Leona. "I'm glad you remember that for sure." Leona smirked back and nodded. Robin smiled. "Is that so?" Hands came out of Karasu's body and started tickling her.

Zoro sweatdropped. "Something tells me she won't stop until Karasu admits she's colorblind." Karasu just stared and blinked at Robin. "And this affects me how?" Mikita raised an eyebrow. "That doesn't tickle you anymore?" Karasu smirked. "Not after all those times that Luffy chased me and poked me repeatedly. I've gotten used to it."

Robin smirked. "Oh. In that case..." Her hands coming out of Karasu started to pinch her instead. To which she had not developed immunity. Karasu growled at her. "Ow… ow… cut it out. That's irritating." A few moments later, Karasu was almost completely covered with hands that were pinching her all over. Karasu raised an eyebrow and set most of them on fire, blowing fire from her mouth. The arms vanished and then appeared on her again, pinching her lips shut while doing their job once more. Robin seemed to be having fun doing it too. Karasu growled and squirmed, trying to get away.

"And just how is she supposed to even tell Robin anything since she can't talk?" Mikita inquired of Zoro. Karasu glared and replied to Mikita through thought. _I can communicate telepathically, you know? _

Robin smirked and kept on pinching her. After about twenty minutes she stopped, and her arms vanished. Karasu just stood there leering at Robin with her eye twitching. "Are you done now 'Ribbon'?" She smiled. "I am now, Ms. Dragon." Karasu's glare soon turned to a smile as she said, "I still say I am merely color decipher impaired-ed-ed-ed-ed-ed-ed-ed-ed… yeah." Robin shrugged and turned to reading her book. "If you would prefer to give the air of stupidity, then that's your choice." Karasu grinned through her teeth with a big smile. "Always have."

Mikita shrugged and stood up. "Hey Zoro. What would you say to a spar?" Leona looked at Mikita. "You said you were pregnant. Are you sure that's safe?" Mikita shrugged. "So what? I'm only a couple weeks along." Zoro shrugged. "Sure, but nothing serious, ok?" Mikita shrugged and drew her Dragon Tail. "Just as long as you don't cut my stomach, we'll be fine." She wasted no time in charging at him and slashing at his chest.

Zoro parried the attack with his Sandai Kitetsu. "So, what's the bet going to be today?" Mikita smirked. "Same as always, although the winning prize has to have a few restrictions." She slashed at his sword, lengthening the Dragon Tail into the whip state and wrapping it around the sword. She tugged at it roughly as if to test its hold. Zoro pulled up on the Sandai to free it from the Dragon Tail's coils. Mikita kept a tight grip on it as she looked at him with an expression of fake pity. "Don't ruin my fun now." She smirked and slid under him, going through his legs and pulling on the Dragon Tail's handle to hopefully make him lose balance or even fall.

Zoro smirked. "You can only pull that off so many times Mikita." He evaded the move and dashed quickly at Mikita, slashing at her shin. Mikita blocked and sighed. "But it's fun…" She smirked and dug her flaming claws into his leg with one hand and wrapped the Dragon Tail around his other leg. Zoro grabbed the Dragon Tail with his free hand and pulled hard on it, letting the blade dig into his hand to strengthen his grip. He was trying to pull it from Mikita.

Mikita raised an eyebrow. "Well that's smart," she stated sarcastically as she yanked the handle. This pulled the Dragon Tail through his grip and cut his palm and fingers up worse, slicing through his hand like a spiky rope. Not to mention that her other hand still had its flaming claws in his leg and his pants leg was now on fire.

Zoro placed the Sandai in the fire, setting it aflame. He then lightly prodded Mikita's hair, setting her hair on fire, then quickly slashed at her shoulder. Mikita dodged the shoulder attack while slapping her burning hair against his side, catching him more on fire. Mikita stood up and flipped back, her hair now put out and free from the flames. She cut off the rough ends with her sword. "Eh, I needed to trim my split ends anyway." She shrugged and then began slashing her sword back and forth quite rapidly and frequently, creating many spiritual attacks flying toward him at high speeds.

Then the Yubashiri was in Zoro's hands and he was knocking the blows aside. Granted, he was still hit by some, but not as many as he might have. "Nanajuu Ni Pondou Hou!" He sent two blades of air at Mikita, making sure they weren't aimed at her stomach area. Mikita simply twirled them around and created one larger spiral of wind, adding her fire and spiritual energy to it. "Catch!" She hurled it at him. She smiled and was now merely having fun rather than battling.

Zoro ducked the attack. "Don't need to." He used the Nanajuu Pondou Hou again, only this time adding his 'Ki' to the attack so she couldn't block it, or turn it back at him. Mikita simply sidestepped and smirked. "You can only pull that one on me so many times Zoro." She was mocking his earlier statement. After that, she attacked again, running straight for him. During this maneuver, it began to sprinkle rain. Zoro waited until the last second of Mikita's charge then simply stepped out of the way, leaving an arm extended to clothesline her.

Mikita reacted by latching her fangs into his arm. The rain began to pick up its pace as it was beating down. It flowed across the boat's floor along with Zoro's blood as Mikita clamped down. The thunder also joined in from out in the distance and the water dripped down Mikita's wet bangs in front of her face. Zoro shifted his weight and brought his arm down quickly to slam Mikita headfirst into the ground. Mikita went down hard, but she soon got right back up and leered at him, shaking the water off of her.

"Come on inside you two! It's getting pretty bad out there!" Leona called from inside the cabin. "You don't want to catch a cold!" The wind started to blow a bit more and the rain was beating against her face. She turned her head aside as she stood up and looked at Zoro through dripping hair. "We'd better put this off until later or they'll complain about me putting the baby in danger." She sighed. Zoro looked disappointed. "Can't you make a fire hot enough that the rain won't put it out?" Mikita shook her head. "Not that I know of."

"Come on Miki!" Karasu called from inside. Mikita sighed and walked toward the cabin. "Don't worry sweetness. Once the rain stops, we'll resume our little spar, if you'd even call it that." She chuckled.

Once she got inside, she shook her hair off and rang it out as she scratched her neck lightly. Zoro looked disappointed as he walked in behind her. Mikita went and changed into something dry as she sat in a secluded corner and brushed her hair with her claws and fingers, listening to the sounds of the rain beating hard against the ship. Zoro sat near Mikita as he waited for the rain to stop.

The gentle sounds of the rain were calming to her as she continued to comb her hair while purring lightly. She then flipped her hair back behind her and looked at Zoro, her purring stopped. She raised an eyebrow at him with a smile. "Come on now. We spar all the time. Just because a little rain stops us just this once doesn't mean anything bad does it?" Zoro shook his head. "No, I guess not."

Mikita smiled as she went closer to him, snuggling up to him and clawing his stomach gently while purring lightly. She nudged his shoulder and felt even more relaxed as she closed her eyes in contentment. Zoro smiled at Mikita, lightly putting his arm around her. Mikita purred louder for an instant as she nudged him again, running her claws up and down his stomach and chest. Her eyes drooped as this made her sleepier. She was happy and content being there with him comfortably.

Leona was sitting next to Sanji and looking down at the floor in thought. Sanji gently rested his hand on her shoulder. "What's wrong Leona-swan? Are you still so upset about your memory loss?" Leona looked at him and nodded. "Yes. It's that… and the fact that something's missing." She still didn't know anything about the bracelets. Apparently she didn't remember up to that point. Sanji paused. "I think I might know what it is..." Leona looked into his eyes expectantly. "Really? What is it?"

Sanji shook his head. "They were a pair of bracelets you owned. I know where they are, but I can't tell you." Leona looked at him strangely. "Why not?" Sanji's eyes were downcast. "Before you lost your memories, you told me you didn't ever want me returning them to you if I could avoid it." Leona stared at him. "Oh…" She looked away and paused for a moment. "So these bracelets must have meant something to me and hurt me in some way for me not to want them back, I presume?"

Sanji nodded. "Yes. Another thing I should mention..." He didn't want to lie to her, or hide truths from her without her knowing he was hiding them from her. Leona looked at him once more, waiting to see what he was going to tell her. Sanji paused. "When we were telling you about yourself when you lost your memory... I left out a few things. They revolved around the person you can remember now, Lutious."

Leona paused and stared at him. "Lutious?" She looked down and returned to her thoughts, trying to see if she could remember anything about him. "It's probably best that I don't remember him." She sighed. "The thoughts just aren't returning to me… and if they are hurtful thoughts, then I don't particularly want to know them anyway." Sanji nodded at her. "Maybe it's better off. Before you lost your memory all you seemed to want to do was forget him. Now you have."

Leona sat there and stared off at nothing in particular. "Then why do I feel like something's missing? Is it that I'm missing something I had with him… or that I need something to replace that for me?" She looked into his eyes questioningly. Sanji shook his head. "I can't answer those for you Leona-swan." Leona still pushed the questioning further. "But you ought to have known more about what I was trying to accomplish before I lost my memory… Was I trying to fulfill what was missing?" Sanji sighed. "I don't know the answer to that. Maybe your sisters do."

Leona looked at him more determinably. "They already told me that you would know. They said part of my aggravation arose from you… and there's something that you're not telling me still yet." Sanji was quiet for a while, not answering. Leona just looked back out in front of her with a blank stare.

In the meantime, Karasu and Luffy were taking turns smacking the back of each other's hands. Karasu's hands were bright red and shaking from the burning sensations, but she just laughed and got more competitive, smacking harder. "Give up yet?" Karasu asked with a smirk. Luffy smirked. "No I'm not! Your blows aren't even hurting!" He slapped the back of Karasu's hand again. Karasu laughed and stabbed his hands with her claws. "How about now?" Luffy looked surprised. "Hey! That's cheating!" Karasu crossed her arms. "So is absorbing the blows rubber boy."

Luffy smirked. "Ok! You can use your claws. But I get to use my fists!" Karasu smirked. "Bring it on!" She slashed four large slashes across the back of his hand. "Your turn!" Luffy grinned. "Ok!" He brought his fist up, and it stretched high before he brought it down on Karasu's hand, which broke the table under it. Karasu held onto her knee and shouted, "My wrist!" and her knee wasn't even what was struck… or her wrist.

Mikita just stared and blinked at Karasu upon hearing this. "Oh great. She's even body part confused." Luffy grinned. "Your turn!" Karasu smirked and pulled her hand way up into the air, claws extended. She then dropped it down on Luffy's hand and punctured it deeply. Luffy whipped back his hand. "Owww..." He drew back his arm to the opposite end of the room and twisting it. "Gomu Gomu no Rifle!" He shot it back, the arm spinning rapidly and adding tremendous power as he smoked the blow into Karasu's hand. Karasu's eye twitched with the pain as she froze. "Owww…"

Mikita shook her head with a chuckle as she stood up. "There's no sleeping with this nonsense going on." She walked over to the door of the cabin and looked out at the rain that was still falling rather hard. It seemed to meld in with her thoughts. Zoro looked at Mikita. "What're you thinking about?" Mikita glanced back at him. "Huh? Oh… A lot of things actually." She resumed looking out at the rain as it fell. Zoro smiled. "Name a few." Mikita smiled at him. "Well… about my life. Leona. You… This whole ordeal." She said the last part as she looked down at her small stomach. It hadn't begun to show very much yet, hardly at all but a mere bulge.

Zoro smiled. "Leona said that it was going to be a great child. She's not been wrong yet with her visions..." He paused, almost irritated at what he'd said. "I guess that also means you're going to live long enough to receive the child." Mikita just looked at him with no particular expression for a moment before looking back at the rain. Zoro sweatdropped. "What?" Mikita didn't respond to him, nor did she turn to look at him again. Her tail moved around awkwardly and swiftly behind her, signaling that she had those things bugging her thoughts. Zoro looked at her with a raised eyebrow, saying nothing.

"When I was frozen in that icy prison," Mikita said finally, "It was like a dark sleep, except I could still sense things around me. The stinging of the icy waters around me didn't burn for all that long. Once all the pain was over, I was quite numb actually." Zoro looked at her. "Did you... hear me, when I came?" Mikita looked at him and nodded. "I did. You are linked to me indeed." She turned her sight back to the rain. "I thought that, well maybe my life could just end there and I wouldn't have to worry about it all anymore, but then I heard and felt how determined you were to save me…"

He looked at her, gently embracing her. "Of course I was determined to save you. I love you." Mikita nodded. "I know… I knew that then, I just couldn't convince myself at that time." She looked up at him and smiled. "I love you too… and I'm still sorry about all of this." She then frowned and looked to the side. "It was just as much my fault as it was yours… if not more. I could've declined, but I didn't. I'm sorry… again." She sighed. Zoro smiled. "It's alright."

Mikita looked at him. "So… you're not angry at the fact that you're going to be a father?" Zoro shook his head. "No." Mikita still looked into his eyes. "Well, I just didn't know because… you haven't told me how you feel about this. You've been silent." She looked down at her feet. "Me? I feel… scared, I guess." Zoro nodded. "It's because I myself didn't realize how I felt about this... but Mikita... I could never be angry at you any longer." She blinked at him. "You were mad at me?" Zoro sweatdropped. "When we first met I hated you."

Mikita looked off at nothing with her realization. "Oh yeah…" She looked at him again and chuckled. "Good times. Good times." She smirked and shoved him playfully. Zoro sweatdropped. "For you maybe. I didn't have as much fun during those times." Mikita smirked. "I was being sarcastic. I didn't particularly like those times either." She kissed him on the lips. "I like these times better." Zoro smiled. "Yeah. Same here." He kissed her back.

Mikita smiled sweetly, but then her ears were drawn to the sound of the rain ending outside. She looked out there and grinned back at Zoro. "So, ready to conclude that spar?" Zoro smirked. "Sure." Mikita walked out the door and stood in her spot, drawing the Dragon Tail and standing in a defensive stance. "Let's go." Zoro drew Wadou Ichimounji and pointed it at Mikita. "Alright then." She ran at him with her sword and slashed at him.

Zoro shifted, thrusting forwards. The guard of the Wadou blocked the slash, while his thrust came at Mikita's shoulder. Mikita used the slippery floors as an advantage as she slid by him unharmed and skidded on by, slashing at his arm with her claws. Zoro pulled back his arm to protect it, and then slashed at Mikita's back. Mikita spun quickly to block the attack thanks to the slippery floorboards and stuck a tiny piece of wood in his hand. "SPLINTER!" She chuckled and smirked at him.

Zoro smirked. "Ittouryu: Mizuken! (Water Blades)" He focused Ki into his blade and swept low, slashing at the residual water. It actually shot up in small blades of water. Mikita got whacked with the water and it smacked her in the forehead. "Ow!" She growled and sheathed her sword, turning into her wolf form. "Challenge me in your other form. Let's see what you got." She bore her fangs at him and growled. Zoro sweatdropped. "Err... I don't know how to transform."

Mikita walked over to him and touched his head with her paw, concentrating and making him transform into the green wolf. "It just comes natural after a while. You'll get used to it." She then smirked and chomped her teeth down in front of his face for taunting. Zoro gave a growl at Mikita in challenge. Mikita raised an eyebrow and forcefully pinned him. "You're in my turf now." Zoro bit her foreleg. "Maybe, but then again, you're slightly slower than you should be." Mikita kicked at him with her back legs and snarled. "Am I? You're the one that has to hold back." She bore down on his chest with her front legs and her claws pierced his chest, not to mention that her back legs had cut into his hips.

Zoro grabbed her by the neck, though not digging his fangs deep enough to do any real damage, and carefully avoiding the mark on it. He then hurled her at the mast. Mikita stopped herself by digging her claws into the floorboards. She stood and leered at him, charging at him after not a moment of rest. Just as she started to approach him, she leaped up into the air, ricocheted off the wall to turn around, and landed on his back, biting onto his ear. Zoro hurled his body to the side and rammed Mikita into the mast again.

Mikita let out a small yelp of pain as she bit down harder on his ear. She growled and pulled on it, while also pushing him down at the same time. Zoro growled dangerously, ramming Mikita into the mast again. Mikita leaped off and landed in front of him, facing him. She charged at him and stood on her hind legs, scratching at him furiously and attempting to pin him.

Leona was watching this as she blinked. "Okay… a brown wolf and a green wolf fighting on deck. Weird." Karasu looked at Leona. "You do know that the brown one is Mikita right?" Leona nodded. "Oh yeah. Now I remember that. So who's the green one?"

"Zoro," Karasu responded. At this time, Mikita was standing on her hind legs and pushing Zoro back with as much force as she could while showing her fangs. However much force Mikita pushed him with, Zoro managed to push her back with more force, pushing her over and attacking her back. Mikita was pushed over and she allowed herself to be thrown down onto her back. She saw her opportunity and kicked him up in the air with her back legs.

Zoro let out a surprised yelp as Mikita's tactic worked and he was knocked into the air. Mikita jumped back up quickly and growled at him as he slammed into the outside wall of the cabin. She wasted no time in dashing at him with lightning speed. In the blink of an eye, not long after he had hit the wall, she came flying at him and slammed him into the wall harder with her front paws, nearly cracking the wall.

Karasu and Leona's eyes widened. "Whoa…" Zoro yelped in pain as he hit the wall, then he tried to tackle Mikita. She turned around and kicked him with her back legs. Zoro staggered again. He wasn't used to fighting with this body. And especially considering Mikita was more adept at fighting in this form... He lunged at her, snapping at her hind leg. One of Mikita's back legs came into contact with his jaw before he could bite her. She smirked at him as she turned to him and pinned him. "How does it feel to be the one on bottom?"

Zoro shook his head and then bit Mikita's shoulder. Mikita used her front paw to rip him away from her shoulder and bit his front leg hard, pushing it to the side and keeping him pinned. Zoro glared, bucking up, and his back hit Mikita's chest hard. Mikita yapped as she got off of him and slashed at his face with her claws, growling fiercely.

Zoro ignored the bleeding scratch marks across his face. He jumped up, digging his claws into the mast and running straight up it. He then kicked off and fell, curled into a ball and spinning rapidly, trying to hit Mikita when he landed.

Mikita smirked and her fur stuck up in spikes like a porcupine. It would be very painful when he came into contact with her. Zoro kept spinning. "Wolf pinwheel!" He slammed into Mikita, his attack power increased dramatically by the speed he'd fallen. He was badly wounded by the spikes, but odds were that his own attack had hurt Mikita much more.

Mikita cried out in pain as she fell over. It took her a bit longer to stagger back up. She glared and growled angrily as her fur seemed to just magically catch on fire. Karasu's eyes widened. "Her truest form…" Mikita growled and dashed around Zoro as many after images surrounded him. It was difficult to tell which was the real Mikita since all he could see was flames circling him. She then pounced at him from the front instead of the back as he may have been expecting, slamming him to the ground and catching him on fire while also stabbing into his flesh with more spikes.

Zoro let out a howl of pain as he viciously bit and clawed at Mikita, ignoring the flames. The flames engulfed him and singed his fur, getting to his skin and making deep burns. The spikes grew in size and stabbed into him, not to mention that Mikita's fangs bit into his front leg. She wasn't backing down or dulling in power. This was her truest and most powerful form that she now had access to.

Zoro tried a final, desperate gamble. He gripped Mikita's back with his fangs and attempted to toss her over the side of the ship into the water. The spikes on her back cut into his mouth and the fire also burned his tongue and face during this process. It wasn't very smart. Mikita simply grabbed onto the railing to prevent herself from getting tossed into the water and she kicked off of it, flying at him again. This time, she formed the ball… the spiky, fiery ball. She slammed into him and sent him into the wall again as even more of her spikes and flames attached to him.

Zoro gave a snarl, with time latching onto her leg and digging his fangs in right to the bone. He slammed her into the railing, smashing through it diving with Mikita into the water. Mikita let out a loud howl of pain before they hit the water. Karasu gasped and glared. "That idiot! He could have really hurt her just then! Stupid competitive jerk!" Leona sweatdropped at Karasu. "You're the same way…"

Mikita's head was above water for a little bit before she began to sink. Karasu ran over to the side. "Miki!" Leona ran up beside her to see what had happened. Zoro grabbed onto Mikita and started swimming. "What? You can't swim?" She had appeared unconscious, but soon her eyes snapped open with a fury as she submerged Zoro under the water forcefully. She got back up on the Merry and shook off the water on Karasu and Leona. "No. I can swim. I was just being stubborn." She smirked.

Zoro also shook himself off. "So, I win again?" Mikita scoffed. "Pssh! Yeah right. Who says I've given up yet?" Karasu blinked at her. "Well… you're limping on your back leg…" Mikita looked back at it. "So?" Leona sighed. "Just call it a draw all right?" Mikita leered at Zoro. "He wouldn't allow his ego to come to a draw." Zoro smirked. "I can call it a draw... but can you?" Mikita raised an eyebrow. "Of course I can." Karasu nodded. "Good, then it's a draw. Leona. Could you ask Sanji to get an icepack for Miki's leg?" Mikita growled. "I'm not crippled." She tried to walk off, but she was still limping. She sat in a corner and started licking her back leg where it hurt.

Leona rolled her eyes and walked in to where Sanji was to ask him for the ice. Karasu glared at Zoro. "What ever happened to 'nothing serious'?" Zoro shrugged. "She started it." Karasu smirked at him. "You just can't stand the fact that she's getting more powerful." Leona brought an icepack out to Mikita, who was still in her wolf form. Mikita snapped at Leona. She didn't accept the icepack. Leona shrugged and laid it next to Mikita. Zoro walked over, grabbing the icepack and giving it to Mikita. "If not for yourself then for your child." Mikita raised an eyebrow. "What the hell does the kid got to do with my leg?" Zoro shrugged. "Never know." Mikita just rolled her eyes and laid her head down between her paws. "And since when is it 'my' child? It's your child too you know." Zoro nodded. "I'm not the one carrying it right now."

Mikita sighed. "Lucky you." She let out a low growl. Zoro sweatdropped. "Did I say something?" Mikita just shook her head. Zoro sighed, nudging her affectionately. Mikita nuzzled him back and her tail lightly wagged. Zoro smiled. "So... how do I change back?" She looked at him and asked, "Well how did you do it last time?" Zoro blinked. "Err... my desire to save you transformed me back... and my rage the first time is what transformed me." Mikita stared. "Oh… well just concentrate on how you felt at those times."

Zoro blinked. "You mean you want me to suddenly get pissed at you every time I want to assume this form?" Mikita chuckled. "No. Just remember how you felt when you had that desperate will to do whatever it was you were doing okay?" He blinked. "Errm..." Mikita sighed and changed him back by putting her paw on his leg. "There." She still remained in her wolf form as she laid her head back down. Zoro looked at Mikita, scratching behind her ears. Mikita's tail started to wag as she purred. She crawled into his lap and lay down contently. Zoro smiled as he continued scratching behind her ears.

Leona looked at them strangely. "I thought she was his mate, not his pet." She addressed this to Karasu. "They're just weird like that," Karasu replied. She then turned to Luffy. "Hey Luffy! You wanna see who can meow the loudest?" Leona raised an eyebrow. "That was random."


	21. Chapter 21

"PERVERT! MAKE ME A CHEESECAKE!" were Mikita's loud, ear-shattering words across the Merry the next day. Karasu blinked and shrugged her shoulders, returning to whatever kind of competition she was having with Luffy this time. "SPLEE is the funniest word! BEAT THAT!" She chuckled. "Splee… That's like 'spleen' without the 'n'." Luffy smiled. "Ok... Bweep! It's like Beep except with a 'w'. Zoro stared at them. "Do they ever get tired of being such idiots?" Sanji was working off in the kitchens.

Mikita was relaxing with Zoro while lying against him in her usual semi-human form again. "No I guess not." Karasu smirked. "Okay… uhh, WHARF!" She giggled at her stupid word. Luffy smiled. "Zweep!"

"POINKERS!" Karasu started laughing loudly at that one. Luffy grinned hugely. "Squeeble!" Karasu smiled. "Beeble." Luffy thought for a second. "Squee!" Zoro sighed. "I'm feeling stupider just listening to this." Mikita smirked at him. "Shumina." Karasu chuckled. "Good one Miki! Uhh… WUMP!" Luffy smiled. "OK!" He then punched Karasu in the face. Zoro blinked. "I didn't get that at all..."

"My wrist!" Karasu shouted as she took the cheesecake from Sanji's hands and splattered it in Luffy's face. Luffy looked around and licked it all off his face. "Hey that was pretty good!" Mikita growled. "That was my cheesecake…" Luffy blinked. "Oh. Ok." Mikita growled and went over to Luffy. After a mere moment, Luffy's head was smashed into the hole of a floorboard and stuck there as it stretched out his neck. Karasu sweatdropped. "Yeah… that was definitely all his fault. Heh." Mikita leered at Sanji creepily. "I want my cheesecake."

Luffy struggled to pull his head out of the ground. Sanji vanished into the kitchens again. Mikita walked back over and sat next to Zoro casually. Luffy finally gave up trying to pull his head out and ended up pulling his body through the hole instead. This made Mikita elevate an eyebrow in confusion.

Leona noticed something shiny lying on the floor of the ship as she went over to see what it was. It was the two bracelets. Leona bent down and picked them up, looking at them in her hands. Mikita saw this and sweatdropped. "Oops… they must have fallen out of my pocket."

Sanji came out. "Mikita-sama! I have your ch-" He broke off as he saw what Leona was holding. Mikita went up to Sanji and snatched her cheesecake. "I'll take that." She bent down and took the bracelets from Leona's hands. "And those." Mikita walked back over to Zoro and Leona blinked at her. "Hey!" She got up and followed Mikita. "Those are the bracelets aren't they?" Mikita nodded as she ate her cheesecake. "Yep." Leona looked at her. "Well give them back." Mikita shook her head. "Nope." Leona paused. "Why not?" Mikita swallowed a bite of her cheesecake and casually replied, "Because you told me never to give them back to you. You wanted me to keep them away from you."

Sanji and Zoro both blinked and looked at Mikita. "She did?" They said in unison. Mikita nodded. "Yep. That's what she told me." Leona looked at her half surprised. "I did?" Mikita nodded again. "Yeah, right before you got hit with that amnesia star and lost your memory. It was all because of Sanji too." Leona looked over at Sanji. "Why?" Mikita shrugged. "Ask him."

Sanji blinked. "What? It was?" Karasu leered at Sanji. "Yes." She then rolled her eyes. "SPAGIGGLEWHARF!" She giggled again as she walked off. Zoro stared. "That was random." Sanji blinked "How was it my fault?" Mikita replied to him sarcastically and casually. "Oh you only hurt her feelings and lessened her chances of accomplishing her dream. That's all." She rolled her eyes and continued eating. Leona looked down at the ground in thought. "My dream…?" Sanji blinked. "How did I do either of those things?" Mikita growled at him. "Forget it you dense pervert."

Leona thought about it for a little bit and she realized what Mikita must have meant by that. She sighed and walked off to sit in her own corner. Sanji turned and walked over to her. "Leona-swan?" Leona looked up at him. "Hmm?" Her tone was a bit saddened and confused in thought. He looked at her. "Is something wrong?" Leona sighed. "No, apparently not."

Sanji took out his usual cigarette. "Is it about your past again?" Leona looked out at the waters. "That and the fact that I can't remember everything. I don't remember all about you either. Do we have some kind of relationship or something?" Sanji shook his head. "You told me you'd never again involve yourself with someone like me. You said you'd learned that lesson with Lutious." Too late he'd realized that he'd given her more information about Lutious than he had intended.

Leona looked away in thought once again. "Lutious was my…?" Her eyes narrowed sadly. "What happened to him?" Sanji was busy smacking himself in the head. "Stupid stupid stupid..." He stopped. "I've already said more than I was supposed to."

Karasu couldn't help but overhear what was being said as she went over to Leona and poked her forehead. "That should help." Mikita blinked at her. "You've had the power to make her remember all this time?" Karasu paused and seemed to be in a daze. "…Huh?" Mikita sighed. "Never mind."

Leona blinked her eyes and looked at Sanji. She then glared at him and stood up. "Thanks Karasu. Now I remember everything perfectly." She started walking off. Ironically at that moment Usopp let off a triumphant cry. "I did it! I've made an antidote! Alright, where is Leona?" Sanji didn't answer, simply letting out a sigh and tossing his cigarette overboard.

"No problem. Glad I could help," Karasu smirked. "SHALABA!" As she screamed this out, she kicked Luffy in the back of the knee in surprise. Sanji got up and walked off into the kitchens. Mikita looked at Zoro. "Life is fucked up isn't it?" Zoro smirked. "Hell yes."

Off in the distance, an island began to appear. Nami looked up at it. "Weird... this island doesn't appear on any of my maps..." Leona looked at her. "Well, more the reason to check it out eh?" Karasu jumped up and down excitedly. "Yah!" An arm stretched up on the Merry's figurehead and Luffy pulled himself up. "Let's go!"

Mikita looked at Zoro with a smirk. "I wonder if there's any chaos for us here?" Zoro shrugged. "We'll find out. But take it easy. If we can find places to cause chaos the guys there might aim at your midsection more than I ever will." Mikita lightly smiled at him as she stared at him, seeing how much he cared for her.

They landed on the island, breaking up as usual, with the usual guidelines. Leona seemed to make sure that she avoided Sanji as she walked off with Karasu and Luffy. Karasu could tell that she was upset, but she put on a happy face to try and cheer her up. "Yay! You're coming with us!" Karasu gave her sister a quick hug and walked on beside her. Leona nodded. "Yeah. Might as well."

Zoro smirked and looked back at Mikita. "Coming?" Usopp, Chopper, Nami, Robin and Sanji went off on their own to explore. Mikita smirked back and went with Zoro. "Yep."

Karasu was talking to Leona along the way. "So, what should we search for on this island?" Leona shrugged. "Doesn't matter. We'll find something." Karasu nodded and walked on as she looked around. "Hey where did Luffy go?"

Luffy was sitting in the middle of a fruit grove, using his stretching arms to grab various fruits from trees and ate them. He was oblivious to the shadowy figures behind him.

Mikita was following behind Zoro for a while until something caught her eye and she wandered off in a different direction. She spotted a tribe of oddly marked people and stared at them curiously. _Strange people inhabit this island…_ She then noticed the throne and who was sitting in it. _Luffy?_ She remained hidden behind the bushes and watched them. Luffy blinked and continued eating on the throne. He noticed two figures out of the corner of his eye. "Mikita! Zoro! Check this out! There are people here! And they're really nice! They're giving me free food!"

Mikita ducked and stayed out of sight, sneaking over to a small hut and going inside. She soon found an interesting weapon, a large stick with a strange engraving. "Ooh this is nice. I could use this… or not." She put it back. "Not my style." She then noticed a basket of apples and smirked, taking it and walking out of the hut with it. "Tee hee…" Before she got very far, the people of the island were blocking her way and staring at her. Mikita blinked. "Uhh…" She noticed their weapons and saw that they took her as a threat, so she threw an apple at one's head and ran with the basket. Of course this angered the tribe people and they chased after her. "Kuso! Kuso! Kuso!" Mikita yelled as she ran.

Zoro paused for a minute in his hiding place. "What's taking Mikita so long she'd better not have..." He paused as he saw Mikita running his way. Then his face paled as he saw the people running behind her. "You baka..." Mikita tricked the people by leaping up into the trees. They shot their spears up at her and a yelp was heard from in the trees. That was all that was heard. The tribe members shrugged and went back to where Luffy was.

Mikita leaped down to Zoro and a tiny spear was stuck in her leg. She growled and yanked it out, healing her wound. She then saw Zoro's expression and sweatdropped. "Heh, just getting into trouble like I always do… I got some apples." She held them out to him with a nervous smile. Zoro took one from her. "Great. Now what do we do about Luffy?" Mikita shrugged and ate an apple. She then paused, remembering the apple that had those effects on her before. "Okay good. These are just normal apples." She then took another bite and swallowed it. "What about him?" She was oblivious to what they really thought of him as.

Zoro looked at her. "We need to get him back onto the Merry." Mikita chewed another bite while saying, "And that's going to be a problem?" Zoro nodded. "He _is_ our captain." Mikita shrugged. "Well, get him then." She looked over and saw that the people were making a fire. "What are they doing…?" She then realized what was happening. "Oh… they're gonna… eat him. This is one of those freaky tribe things that believes in a god and all that shizzy." She looked down and thought for a moment. "Well, does he even know this?" Zoro sweatdropped. "Knowing Luffy. No." Mikita thought for a moment and said, "Can you make decent distractions?" Zoro drew one of his katana. "What do you need done?" He said with a dark smirk. Mikita smirked back. "Anything to distract them and get them away from Luffy." Zoro smirked. "I can manage that." He disappeared into the forest. Mikita remained in her hiding spot, watching and waiting for the right moment.

Meanwhile, Karasu and Leona were walking along their pathway looking for Luffy. "LUFFY!" Karasu screamed out loudly. No response. "Hmm… where could he be?" At that moment, the tip of a spear was pointed at Karasu's nose and she paused. She was oblivious to any danger. "Hey guys! That's an awesome weapon!" Leona just sweatdropped.

A yell came from the tree line. "Collier Shoot!" A lightning fast kick shot up and caught the man in the neck, taking him down easily. "How dare you threaten a woman..." Leona glanced at Sanji and looked back at Karasu, deliberately ignoring him. "Are you all right Kari?" Karasu nodded. "Der! He didn't even touch me." Leona smiled at her. "Good. It looks like this island is inhabited by unwelcoming people." Just then, more of them showed up. "And there's some more," Karasu added as she pointed behind Leona.

Arms started coming out of the natives and then immediately broke each of their backs. Robin stepped out. "Need some help?" Leona nodded, but Karasu was too busy playing with one of the men's spears. "Interesting weapon. I think I'll keep it." She smiled and held onto it. Nami grumbled as she came up behind them. "Usopp and Chopper bolted back to the ship the instant these guys appeared... I'm beginning to wonder if they encountered anymore of them on the way back..."

Usopp and Chopper stared at the army of at least a hundred natives. They were shaking like hell. "If you go now, I'll spare your lives! For I am captain Usopp and I command an army of... Ten thousand men!" The natives looked at each other for a moment, grinned and then leveled their spears at Usopp and Chopper.

Luffy grinned even as he was tied up. "What are you guys doing?" He was then set over the fire." YAAA! That's hot!" He ended up twisting his body around the pole he was bound to in order to stay away from the flames. Zoro sweatdropped. _Isn't he distraction enough?_ He was just out of sight behind a house. Mikita threw a pebble at Zoro's head and glared at him, mouthing the words 'hurry up.' Zoro rolled his eyes and moved.

The fire was put out by a powerful gust of wind and the men around the fire scattered, some flying off a nearby cliff. Zoro quickly moved in, his blade flashing from side to side, dropping man after man after man. Mikita sighed and went in to save Luffy. "Come on you dunce," she said as she began untying him. She then got him down from the stick and took him by the wrist. "Let's go."

Sadly, at that moment two voices were heard screaming. Usopp and Chopper ran into the middle of the village yelling in terror. In moments it was apparent why, as an entire legion of the natives came charging in with spears at the ready. Zoro's third sword fell out of his mouth. "Oh bloody shit... Where the hell's Ero-cook when you need him?" Mikita sweatdropped. "Kuso…" She picked up Luffy and leaped up into the trees with him, dodging the spears thrown her way.

Usopp started panicking again. Luffy blinked. "But those were nice people..." Mikita raised an eyebrow at Luffy. "You burn brain cells by the minute don't you?" Luffy blinked. "Huh?" Mikita nodded. "Indeed." She landed back on the Merry and put him down. She noticed Leona and Karasu on the Merry once more. "Keep an eye on him. I'll be back." Mikita jumped back off the ship in search for Zoro. Luffy frowned. "Aww... now I'm missing out on free fruit..."

Zoro was still slashing through the masses of natives, but he was slowly getting tired. _I'm not sure how much longer I can hold out like this..._ Almost as soon as he was thinking that, several natives went flying, due to the fact that a certain cook had kicked them hard. More of them were decapitated by the Dragon Tail whipping through. Her stomach oddly began to cramp as she lightly flinched, but she ignored it as she landed in front of Zoro with a smirk. "You tired yet?"

Zoro crossed his arms over his chest. "Oni Giri!" The men around him were hurled up in the air. As for Sanji, he was performing his signature attack, of using a handstand and his legs whipping around like a twister over his head. Now, hands were coming out of the men as well and strangling them. Mikita just shrugged. "Guess not." She continued to slash at them, flinching with more pain in her stomach. She saw more of them coming at her and she decided to retreat into the trees. "See you back on the Merry Zoro!" were the words she yelled as she disappeared from sight.

Zoro sighed. "Typical..." He jumped back out of the native's range. "Hyaku Hachi Pondou Hou!" Three spiraling blades of air tore through the natives, decimating their ranks. Sanji and Robin easily dealt with the remaining natives.

Mikita returned to the Merry and held her stomach. _What's going on? I thought that wasn't supposed to happen…_ Karasu looked at her curiously. "Miki?" Mikita straightened up and looked at her. "Hmm? Oh, I'm fine." Karasu raised an eyebrow. "I can read your mind. You know, it might just be side cramps because you've been running too much." Mikita nodded. "You're right… yeah. It could be." She walked over to the railing, watching and waiting for Zoro and the others to return.

It took a long time for them to come back, and not just because of the natives. They ended up coming back with more than half the food in the village. Zoro was grumbling something about him having to carry all of the heavy foods. Karasu helped Zoro by using her telekinesis. Leona was once again in her own corner of the ship thinking alone and Mikita was up in the crow's nest asleep. It wasn't long before Zoro joined her and was asleep next to her. Usopp and Chopper had disappeared into the ship, and now Nami was steering the ship away from the island as quickly as she could.

Mikita felt Zoro next to her as she smiled and cuddled closer subconsciously in her sleep. After a short while, she began to frown and moan in her sleep, muttering words softly. "Don't… don't take it away… I'm sorry."

Her words woke Zoro up (who'd only just gotten into sleep). He looked at her. "…?" Mikita then muttered the name, "Kachi…" and turned over to face him, putting her arm and leg over him. She was acting fearful, as if she were having a bad dream. Zoro slipped his arms around her to hold her close to him. She reacted by holding him a little tighter. "Forgive me… Zoro." Her ear twitched and she shifted her tail around. Zoro blinked. "Huh?" Mikita was still in a dream, but she soon smiled and purred. Her dream must have switched over. Zoro smiled and gently stroked her hair.

Down below on the Merry, a familiar cook approached Leona. "Hey." Leona glanced up at him, but only for a brief moment as she nodded her greeting. Sanji sat down next to her. Leona didn't make eye contact. "So, why aren't you drooling over 'Nami-swan' right now?" Sanji looked at her seriously. "Because you've been avoiding me, and I want to know why." Leona looked away from him. "Because you hurt me. That's why." Sanji blinked. "How?" Leona looked down. "By being you." Sanji blinked. "What?" He wasn't sure what she had meant by that. Karasu rolled her eyes upon hearing this. "Oh my god, you're worse than Zoro. She means that you can't make her feel special because you flirt with any feminine thing that moves!" Sanji looked at Karasu. "It's how I was brought up."

Leona stood up and forced a smile. "I-It's okay. You are the way you are and… nothing and no one can change that." She nodded and turned to walk away, hurt deep inside. Sanji got up. "Leona-swan..." Leona stayed with her back turned to him. "I said it's okay. Really." Karasu looked down sadly, knowing her inner thoughts. Leona then walked into the cabin. Sanji gritted his teeth. He had done nothing now but make things worse, and it hurt him worse than any attack he'd ever received.

Karasu looked at Sanji. _Leona's the first to actually love him and have feelings for him, and yet he still continues to treat her like all the others. Ugh, all of this is so irritating to me. I gotta distract myself…_ "Hey Luffy! You want to see who can fall asleep the fa—" She had already fallen over and started twitching. Luffy blinked. "Fall asleep the farthest? That doesn't make any sense Karasu."

Leona was inside drinking a bottle of rum as she leaned against the wall. _I guess I really should just give up on him. I should have never expected to be his number one._ She took another drink of the rum.

Meanwhile on the island that the three sisters once lived on, the pendant floats through the sky and falls in front of another man. He picks it up and examines it as it glows a bright orange.

Mikita senses a bad vibe as she wakes up and sits up. Her ears go back on her head as she looks out at the open sea. She lightly growls and acts cautiously.

A few days passed. During them, Sanji had become noticeably more distant and gloomy. He still cooked meals as perfect as ever and in the few skirmishes they got into his fighting prowess hadn't changed, but there could be no doubt that something was strongly irritating him. Leona, however, was now trying to get over her troubles and acting like her cheery self again… for the most part. Sometimes, it showed with her ways that she was still deeply wounded inside.

Mikita was standing out by the railing looking out at the waters. Leona walked up to her. "What's wrong Mikita?" Mikita looked at her sister. "Something's not right. A couple days ago I felt this bad feeling and it just won't go away." Leona shrugged. "Maybe you're still worried about the child." Mikita shook her head. "No it's not that… but I don't know what it is."

Robin was looking at reading a book when something caught her eyes. "Ms. Navigator. There a number of Marine ships on their way towards us." Nami looked up. "WHAT?" She looked out and saw at least fifty ships coming towards them. Mikita's eyes widened. "This could possibly be what it is." Karasu sweatdropped. "SHIT!" She jumped and hid under a barrel.

As a warning, the navy ships fired a cannon shot at the going Merry. Unfortunately for both sides, Luffy was on deck when it was fired. It hit Luffy square in the chest, knocking him over, and, due to his rubber body, sent the cannon shot right back at them. Mikita growled and backed up. "Zoro… what do we do?" Zoro sweatdropped. "They're probably after just the original crew. If you go now, you can probably get away." Mikita glared at Zoro. "And you think I'm going to leave your side? Well… you left mine a couple of times, but… that's not the point. I'm not leaving you!" Zoro smirked. "We're both stubborn idiots then huh?"

Down below deck, Sanji ran to Leona and told her the exact same thing Zoro had just told Mikita. Leona looked at him and nodded. "It's probably for the best." She turned away and started walking off, but not before adding, "It's not like I'll get anywhere with my dream by staying here anyway. I'll go get Karasu."

Sanji looked sadly off. The Marines fired another shot. Sanji jumped up and kicked it right back at them. He landed near where Leona was. "I hope you meet someone who can better serve your dream than I could." He jumped again and kicked another shot back at the ships. Leona glanced at him with a hurt glare, but then she went to Karasu and lifted the barrel. "Karasu. We're getting out of here." Karasu nodded. "Okies."

Sanji looked away from Leona sadly. He then continued kicking cannonballs back at the navy. Five of the ships were starting to close in. Leona and Karasu hurried in the lifeboat, looking up at Mikita. "Come on! We have to hurry!" Mikita looked down at them. "I'll be fine." Leona's eyes widened. "Miki…?" There was a yell from Nami. "You two! Hurry up and go! We're not going to be able to keep them off the ship much longer!"

Zoro heard Nami scream at the other two to leave. He looked at Mikita for a moment, and then back at the Navy, which was approaching quickly. Already he could tell that, powerful as their crew was, this was a battle they could not win or avoid. He looked sadly at Mikita and gently kissed her on the lips. He pulled out then said, "I love you." He then almost gently, struck a pressure point on her that rendered almost anyone unconscious. He then quickly lowered Mikita into the lifeboat.

Leona took her into her arms carefully while looking at him sadly. Karasu nodded as she cut the ropes with her claws, sending them drifting away. The Strawhat crew turned to face the navy ships, just as the first one's crew began to board their ship.

After a short while, Mikita began to open her eyes as she looked up at the blinding sun, squinting. "What the…? What happened?" She looked up and her head was in Leona's lap. Mikita sat up and noticed that they were on a small lifeboat drifting on the sea. "Where are we? What's going on? Where's Zoro?" She looked at Leona, who just looked down sadly. "He… he wanted to protect you and the baby…" Mikita had a shocked, saddened expression as she looked out in the distance at the Merry and the marine ships. "Zoroooooooo!" Her shout for his name ended with a mournful howl.

As the Strawhats engaged the enemy, they fought fiercely, pushing back the initial attack. But even they started having difficulty after four ships came along side them and started unloading their men. Zoro was in fact on one of the ships and fighting like a devil. He then heard a mournful howl far off in the distance, and he paused for just a brief moment. In that one moment a Marine officer with iron knuckles got behind him. He felt an excruciating pain at the back of his neck, and then all went black.

_For those of you who have reviewed, I have replied to your reviews and I'm sorry if you didn't get the replies. Things haven't been coming to my account from either, like when I submit new chapters. However, I thank you all for reviewing and I have indeed replied to all your messages. _


	22. Chapter 22

When Zoro finally woke, the first thing he noticed was that it was dark. He got up and looked around. He seemed to be in a prison cell. Then he noticed he didn't have his swords. He looked around frantically as if he could find any of them. Outside of his cell. It was no use. There was no trace of them. He looked to one side. In the cell next to him, Sanji was lying unconscious, his head bleeding severely. In the other cell next to him, there was Robin who also wasn't yet conscious. He groaned sat down on the bench that the cell had inside of it. _At least I was able to protect Mikita..._

The three sisters floated along on the open sea. Mikita looked down at the waters sadly and Leona stared at her. "It's okay Mikita. He wanted to protect you from harm, and that he did." Mikita growled and glared at the water lightly. "I told him that I wasn't going to leave his side… and he had to go and do this." Leona looked at Karasu and she returned the gloomy stare. Karasu then smiled. "Don't worry. We'll find land somewhere soon enough." It wouldn't be anytime soon, for they were still surrounded by nothing but open water. Mikita sighed and leered at her reflection in the water.

Zoro looked around his cell for a possible way out. He found none. All there was around him were steel bars, possibly sea stone. He heard voices from beyond a door at the far end of the room, and after a few moments the sounds of keys in the lock were heard. Zoro blinked and when the door opened, he growled in a very pissed off way. Standing in the doorway was the blue haired form of Tashigi.

However, it wasn't Tashigi herself that Zoro growled at. It was what he was holding in her free hand. His treasure, the Wadou Ichimounji. She walked down towards his cell and then stopped in front of it. "Looks like you've finally been caught Roronoa Zoro, to repent all the terrible crimes you've committed with this sword!" Zoro glared at her from behind the bars and tried to take Tashigi by surprise by lunging at her, throwing his arm through the bars and reaching for the Wadou.

Tashigi was too fast though and moved back out of reach. "You don't deserve to wield a blade as magnificent as the Wadou Ichimounji, Zoro!" Zoro slammed his fist into the bars of the cell. There was a grinding noise and pieces of mortar fell from the ceiling, but the steel withstood his blow. "If you've got nothing else to say Tashigi then piss off." She glared at him. "You are in no position to be ordering me around Roronoa!" She then seemed to calm down and looked at him. "Your swords are going to be confiscated and sent to a Marine base in the North Blue. Goodbye Roronoa."

As she left the room she turned back and looked at him. "You won't be in here much longer. Each of the Strawhat pirates is going to be executed tomorrow." She then left the room, closing the door behind her.

Meanwhile on the lifeboat, Mikita was sitting there with her arms crossed and glaring at nothing in particular. "I want an apple." Karasu was looking down at the water in boredom. "I want to play with Luffy… NOT LIKE THAT SANJI!" Leona blinked. "That pervert isn't here, and I'm glad for that actually." Mikita ignored her sisters' conversation as she sat with her back against the side of the boat. Suddenly, the water started bubbling up underneath the boat. Mikita looked ahead of her, half startled, but then the water itself shaped like a whip snatched her. It pulled her backwards and almost tipped the boat over as it pulled her under.

"Mikita!" Leona shouted as she looked over the edge of the boat. Nothing but bubbles came up. Karasu also looked over the edge and tried to see what had become of her sister. Neither of them saw anything.

Mikita was in a battle under the water. She couldn't see her pursuer, but she had an inkling of who it was. She slashed at whatever was holding onto her foot frantically, trying to get loose. She was holding her breath as well as she could, finally getting the chance to swim toward the surface. The water bubbled up underneath her, coming at her quickly, but she kept swimming. She got her head up above the surface and let out a shout of a breath as she was jerked back under. She struggled, pulled, and slashed to the best of her ability, but her breath soon ran out and she lost consciousness.

Leona was in a panic as she jumped in to try and find her. Karasu looked over to see if she would succeed. Leona came up after a few seconds and took in a breath, moving her hair out of her face. "Well did you find her?" Karasu asked. Leona got back up onto the ship. "No… I couldn't find her. She's gone again. There's only one person that could have done this…" Karasu nodded. "Tsuyoku."

Zoro waited in his cell for a while. He tried slamming his fists against the bars but that didn't work. _I may as well keep trying. I don't have anything better to try... wait..._ He paused for a moment. "Much better. It's smarter to use your head than you fists Mr. Swordsman." Zoro jumped and looked at Robin who was now conscious. She smiled at him grimly.

Zoro finally noticed how bloody her leg was. "My leg was broken in the battle." Zoro groaned. Just great... He started to inspect the ground. His pounding hadn't done anything but chip the mortar... he paused. He touched the ground beneath the mortar and to his relief, it was just dirt. He smirked. The bars around him might be steel, but the ground and ceiling were not. He looked at Robin. "I think I can get us out of here."

Meanwhile with the two remaining sisters, Leona was upset and pulling her hair. "This is so disastrous! Ugh! I mean first the Strawhats get captured by the marines and now Miki's gone!" Karasu forced a grin, trying to make the situation look not as bad. "Look! We're approaching land!" Leona sighed. "Great."

As they approached the land, they got out and Leona began pacing the island's ground. "This is awful! What are we going to do? I can't be stuck out here with you all by myself! And what about Miki? She could be dead right now!" Karasu just raised an eyebrow. "And what's wrong with being stuck with me?" Leona faceplanted. "Never mind."

"I think I may be able to help you," the voice of a man stated behind them. They turned to see a man with icy blue hair. He had a handsome composure and through his shirt was hiding a six-pack. Leona stared at him with a grin. "Ooh…" Karasu grinned widely. "What a cutie!" The man sweatdropped. "Yeah… so, do you need my help or not?" Leona and Karasu just looked at each other and blinked.

Zoro was tossing rocks at Sanji, trying to get him to wake up. Which he did, after about five minutes. However he was still in his negative mood and didn't even cast an insult at Zoro. It took the swordsman by surprise. _Whoa... this isn't like him at all... did Leona's rejection really hurt him this much?_ He sighed and shook the thought out of his mind. He then focused on everything Mikita had told him, and in moments had transformed into a green wolf. He started digging down through the dirt exposed by the mortar. He dug a hole all the way to the other side of his cell. "I'll be back for you guys shortly."

He could smell a Marine on the other side of the door. He gave a growl just outside the door. There was a confused sound from the other side, and two Marines holding sabers opened the door. It was over before it began. After taking them down, Zoro picked the keys off one of the Marine's belt and threw them to Sanji. Sanji unlocked his door and Robin's, and then helped Robin onto Zoro's back. Robin carried the keys so the other two could be left, free to fight. Zoro smirked. "Alright, let's go free the others."

Leona and Karasu were headed their way at an extremely fast pace in the lifeboat, thanks to the help of the man from the island. He was in the back of the boat, controlling the water like an incredibly rapid propeller. Leona and Karasu's hair was flapping wildly in the wind and the water was splashing them. "When you said fast, you really meant fast!" Leona yelled, holding onto the boat so she wouldn't fall off.

The man smirked. "It's my thing. Just hang on and I'll have us there in no time!" Karasu had a big grin on her face. "WEEEEEEEEE!" Leona then had a determined look on her face as they neared their destination.

Now five of the Strawhats were out, the other two being Nami and Usopp. However, Chopper and Luffy still needed saving. Amazingly, nobody had realized that five prisoners had escaped their cells. As Zoro was running he saw a sign above a door that caught his eye. 'Lieutenant Major Tashigi.'

He skidded to a stop.

He gestured with his head at the sign on the door to Robin. She nodded. "Alright then." Zoro pushed open the door; the first thing he noticed was four swords propped against the wall. The first blade was Tashigi's Shigure. The other three were Zoro's own. He would have made a straight dash for the swords but noticed Tashigi in the room, asleep at her desk. Her glasses had fallen off her face next to her head, making her look more like Kuina than ever.

Zoro flinched at that.

He stealthily crept through the room, grabbed his swords in his teeth and then crept out, without waking the swordswoman. He and Robin had been left behind by now so he hurried to catch up. A group of Marines blocked their way but several hands emerged from the wall, smashing their heads together and knocking them unconscious. Then the wolf and his 'rider' passed through unbothered, up a staircase towards the next floor.

By the time Zoro and Robin reached the area where Chopper and Luffy were being imprisoned, they were already freed and out of their cells. Two of the people would be recognizable to them: Leona and Karasu. The third one, the man that helped them out, wouldn't ring a bell to Zoro or any of the others. Leona smirked. "Looks like we got here in time." Karasu grinned widely. "Yep, and we brought a cutie along with us!" She rubbed the man's stomach and he blinked at her, raising an eyebrow after.

Zoro emitted a yelp of surprise, but Robin just smiled. "I see you've come back despite what happened." Leona lowered her line of sight to the ground. "Quite possibly… but there's actually another reason why we came back." Zoro blinked. Robin nodded. "I assume it has to do with Ms. Mikita." Zoro looked up at her and gave a quiet growl. Leona nodded. "Yes… she was captured again, right before our eyes. I dove in to save her, but… I couldn't find her."

Zoro emitted a louder growl this time, glaring at Leona and Karasu. Karasu leered back. "Hey! We tried you know!" Leona also returned the ill stare. "You should have been there with her." The man with them just stared and blinked. "I'm lost here…" Karasu looked at him. "Oh, this is Leoko." The man nodded at them. "Leoko Mystuga." Karasu grinned. "And he's a cutie!" Leona rolled her eyes. "Now isn't the time Karasu. We have to go find Mikita." Leoko smiled. "That's where I come in. So, do you guys have any suspicion of where your ship is?"

Zoro growled again at Leona. Robin shook her head. "We'd all been knocked unconscious by the time they took us in." Leoko just smirked. "Lucky for you I have that part down."

After about half an hour, they were all back out on the open sea, going faster than ever due to Leoko's waterpowers working like a large and fast propeller. Karasu was once again at the front of the ship yelling, "WEEEEEEEE!" However, the only two that had agreed to go with them had been Sanji and Zoro. Zoro had assumed his human form again and had all three blades sheathed at his side.

Leona stood next to Karasu in the front of the ship, watching for any signs of the island to appear. Sanji'd had his head injury bandaged up by Chopper but still appeared slightly dazed. Leona looked back at him with a slight twinge of worry, but she soon snapped her head carelessly back to the front of her. Leoko looked at them as he propelled the ship. _I sense some tension here…_ Karasu read his thoughts and replied to him in thought. _Yep. Those two have been like this for about a month now I suppose._ Leoko blinked. _Damn…_

Sanji gathered up some courage and moved up next to Leona. She just looked at him with a neutral stare. "So… you all right?" Sanji nodded. "Yes... are you?"

"For the most part," she replied. Sanji nodded. "I'd have felt even shittier if you'd have been hurt while escaping." Leona still looked ahead of her. "You'd probably say that to any girl. Why not say it to Karasu here?" Karasu looked at Leona. "Huh? I'm sorry I was dazed out. What?" Sanji looked at her. "Because, I've already told you, you're different than any other girl." Karasu coughed a bit. "Jee I wonder why that is?" Leona lightly glared at Karasu, who simply shrugged. "Well it's true." Leona rolled her eyes. "And it was a mistake."

Sanji went quiet. His head was bowed in defeat. Karasu smirked. "I knew it. Of course I can read minds, but still I KNEW IT!" She then blinked and started walking away. "Bad images… bad images… I'm never reading his mind again." Zoro sent a glare at Karasu and then muttered to Leona. "Is there any way we could remove that annoying power of hers?" Leona smirked and shook her head. "Nope," came out of Leona and Karasu's mouths at the same time. Leona blinked at her and she just smiled craftily. Leona just sighed and looked back out at the waters in front of them.

"Well I know why you two are having such a hard time. It's the sex deprivation. It drives any man nuts," Karasu smirked. Leona went red in the face as she leered at Karasu. "Will you stop that?" Karasu smirked and nodded. "Sure." She went back to the end of the ship with Leoko. "I'm gonna call you Fluffy." Leoko raised an eyebrow at her. "Why?" "Because it suits you." Leoko just stared at her strangely for a moment before shrugging his shoulders. "Whatever floats your boat." Karasu blinked at him. "Doesn't water float any boat?" Leoko just sweatdropped.

Zoro sweatdropped. "In Mikita's place..." Keeping his thoughts shielded from Karasu he grabbed her head and dunked it underwater. Karasu pointed her finger back at him and sent him flying into the mast as she took her head out of the water. "You should know better than to try and pull that one on me. In Mikita's place… Stay in your place you stupid cutie!" Leoko raised an eyebrow. "Do you call every guy 'cutie'?" Karasu smiled. "Most of them." Zoro shrugged it off. "Ok then." He then flipped Karasu's entire body into the water. Or at least he tried to, but Karasu stopped him in the process with her telekinesis. She then punched him across the face and sent him flying into the mast with even greater force. "Now is not the time you retard! We're trying to find Mikita! You should be focusing on that right now! Shape up and stop fooling around." Karasu was actually angry and serious now as she took a seat against the outside of the cabin's wall.

Zoro shrugged. "Finally, I get to see what you look like when you're serious. Besides right now it doesn't matter what we do, we won't be getting to where Mikita is any slower by fighting." Karasu gave him a solemn stare. "And we won't get there any faster by it either. If you are wise, you will sit this one out and focus." Zoro shrugged. "What's the point in focusing? We don't know what lies in wait for us, we have nothing to prepare for until the island is in sight, so what does focusing now do for us?" Karasu growled and forced him down on his butt roughly using her telekinetic powers. "Sit down and SHUT UP!"

During this time, Mikita was thrown roughly into an icy cold glass chamber. She staggered up to her feet and looked through the glass at her father. "Well. Well. Let's try this again, shall we?" Mikita glared at him. "I'd rather not." He smirked at her. "Why not? You seemed to enjoy it so well last time, so I thought I'd give you another chance at this. Oh and someone's missing again…" Mikita's glare turned to a sad stare as she looked down. Tsuyoku simply laughed and that's when the icy prison began to fill up with a watery substance.

This wasn't just any kind of liquid. It was so cold that it burned on contact, especially to her since this was one of her weaknesses. It started to come toward her feet and she stepped back cautiously. She looked up and saw that she was also blocked from above and that she had no way out. She looked all around the outside of the prison. Zoro was nowhere in sight. Her ears lowered, and in that brief moment, the liquid stung her toes and she leaped back to the greater elevated end. She leaned against the cold chamber walls and tried to back as far away from it as possible.

The air began to fog up in icy steam. Mikita hit the icy prison with her fist in aggravation, but then she paused and gained a determined appearance. _I'm not giving up. I will not be made a fool of. Not this time. _She took in a deep breath and screamed a shrill note as the icy chamber's walls began to crack. The stinging of the liquids reached her toes and she was almost trapped by the liquids.

She had to act fast.

Once she discovered a soft spot in the narrow walls, she punched it with all her might with a flaming fist, busting it open and shattering it. "Yeah…! OW!" The impact hurt her fist as she held it for a bit, but she soon shook it off and leaped out of the chamber upon feeling the stinging once more.

"Good show," her father's voice stated from behind her. She turned and glared at him. "I'm not the same as I used to be, so you best get used to it." He smirked at her. "Oh really? Well in that case, I look forward to witnessing this power of yours." He ran at her and pointed his sword toward her, but she soon vanished from sight, as she turned invisible. He went right through the spot that she was recently standing in and looked around him curiously. "Interesting power you have there, but I'll show you one better." He took an icy kunai from his pocket and pointed it in three different directions while saying, "Eenie meanie miney MO!"

On that last word, he threw it in the direction that she was and the kunai struck into her shoulder, taking her down and making her reappear again. She gasped and fell to the ground paralyzed. "How… how did you…?" she muttered. He walked closer to her with a smirk. "In freezing temperatures like these, I prefer to use my heat vision." Mikita glared at him as he walked closer. "You have indeed grown in power my dear, but you're just no match for me. No matter how strong you are, I'll always be one step ahead of you."

Zoro held his stance and threw Karasu's telekinesis back at her, with much more power than before. Enough to blow Karasu back quite a fair distance. "You don't have the power to order me around Karasu." She simply stopped it in its track and smirked. "Whatever you say swordsman."

He felt that familiar twinge that meant Mikita was in danger. He emitted a growl again and ran over to Leoko. "Can't this thing go any faster?" Leoko nodded with a smirk. "Hold on tight." The ship then doubled in speed. Karasu grabbed onto the railing and her jaws flapped in the wind. "WEEEEEEEE HEE HEE HEE!"

Tsuyoku slammed Mikita up against the wall and she fell to the floor with her pain. He then sat on top of her legs and put his claws to her stomach. "What do you say we end your troubles here? This way, you won't have to worry about raising a child." Mikita's fear was amplified as she looked at him with a horrified expression. She then growled and fought against the paralysis as she moved her arm to point her finger at him with a great amount of speed.

He was blown back into the wall and the breath was taken from him momentarily. This gave Mikita enough time to sit up and remove the kunai from her shoulder. It wasn't easy as she fought against the paralysis, but she got it out after a lot of effort and healed her wound. Tsuyoku rose to his feet and leered at her. "You bitch!" The metal on the walls somehow formed chains that grabbed her wrists and shins, jerking her back against the wall hard. Mikita gritted her teeth and growled with her eyes tightly shut.

Once she opened her eyes again, there he was right in front of her. "You thought it would be that easy to stop me? You feel quite cocky with all that power of yours, don't you?" He flashed a cold stare into her eyes as he jabbed his claws into her shoulder right behind the mark that bound her to Zoro. Her eyes widened.

A smug grin came across his face as he began to pull his claws down toward the mark, almost to the point of touching it. "If I destroy this mark, your powers and your link to that mortal fool will be broken." His claws edged closer as she tightly closed her eyes and tried to fight against the chains while enduring the pain. "Almost there…" He taunted with a smirk.

Mikita growled and leered at his arm. Suddenly, his claws stopped in their tracks and were removed from her shoulder. He looked upon this in surprise. "What?" Her eyes flashed a red hue into his and he was once again sent flying back into the walls. Mikita broke through the chains with great strength and glared murderously at her father. Before long, her body grew its brown fur and she transformed into her wolf form, but this time she was in a rage and her yokai form took over. Her eyes flashed a crimson hue as she stared him down, prepared to charge at him.

She leaped in for the attack. Tsuyoku rolled across the floor to dodge her. As her claws slashed at where his head previously was, they cut through the steel wall and made four large gashes in the steel. Tsuyoku's eyes widened at this and he dodged another straight-on attack as she leaped at him. There was no stopping her now that she was so enraged. Determination shone in her eyes along with the thirst for vengeance as she pinned him and bit at the pendant. Her mouth enclosed around it, but it shocked her as she yelped and leaped back. Her father smirked at her. "You can't pull the same trick twice sweetheart. I've learned that about you already."

Mikita snarled viciously as she leaped at him again, biting into his neck. Blood poured out and spewed all over her as he shouted out in pain. She merely latched down harder as she growled. Tsuyoku stabbed another icy kunai into her, only this time into her side near her stomach. She cried out in pain as she yanked her teeth from his neck. This gave him the advantage he needed to throw her off of him and get back up. Mikita was growling and still fighting it as she tried to scramble to her feet, but she fell back down and growled ferociously. Of course, physical attacks could not defeat him as his neck wounds healed and he stood there leering at her evilly. "That's it. You're asking to die!"

As Tsuyoku moved in two voices were heard simultaneously. "Flying Tatsumaki!" A drilling sound was heard and then what seemed to be a sideways flying twister of air blades tore through the wall straight at Tsuyoku's pendant with unbelievable speed. Behind the wall vaguely seen through the dust the attack had torn up was the form of Sanji, his leg raised in his kick finish. As the twister reached him, he was blown back by the attack, but his pendant flashed an orange hue and deflected the attack.

Mikita growled viciously with her red eyes as her fur burst into flames, her angry stare focused on her father. She had a move planned out, her mind set on murder and his vital points. Leona looked at her fearfully. "Mikita… oh no. She has obtained her yokai state again. There's no controlling her in this demonic form. If she tries for too long, she could be putting her life at stake since her powers and her self-control are slowly drained!" Mikita growled at her target, dashing at him and snapping at him wildly, her teeth dripping with blood.

Zoro emerged from the twister skidding across the ground and jumped at Tsuyoku. "Gazami Dori!" It looked as if he was trying to decapitate Tsuyoku, but in fact, his real target was the pendants chain to get it off of Tsuyoku where it could hopefully be destroyed. Tsuyoku put Mikita in his place with a substitution trick and she reacted instinctively by timing it just right, biting and clamping down on Zoro's swords. In this state, she didn't recognize him as she growled and glared at him, biting down so hard on the blades that her powerful teeth nearly cracked the blades. Right now, she would focus on attacking anyone around her, no matter who they were. If her sight were on the person, then that would be who she'd attack.

Tsuyoku smirked as she faced off with her mate. His victorious grin was cut short by an icy boomerang flying in and slashing at his necklace's chain as well. The weapon clashed and bounced off of the chain, not cutting it or puncturing it in the least. The boomerang returned to its wielder, Leoko, as he caught it and glared at Tsuyoku. "You were the one that took over my cousin's body. For that, you will pay."

There was a second yell as Sanji charged into the room. He hadn't fully recovered from his injuries but he was going to help as much as he could. He quickly sent a kick and Tsuyoku's neck. "Collier Shoot!" He then jumped, flipped in midair and snapped his leg out at Tsuyoku's face with tremendous power. "Mutton Shot!"

Meanwhile Zoro was struggling with Mikita. He pulled his swords out of her grip and then circled around her so that Tsuyoku was behind him. Tsuyoku was back to back with Zoro, and when he had moved out of her way, Mikita was now focused on Tsuyoku once again. Her eyes caught sight of the chain of the necklace that was rested on the back of his neck. She leaped at him from behind and fastened onto his back with her claws. Her fangs clamped onto the chain. Ignoring the pain of the shocking electrocution, she kept her jaw latched tightly onto it as she pulled it with a quick motion. The chain's razor sharp make along with Mikita's pulling force decapitated Tsuyoku and the necklace was now in Mikita's possession, fastened in with her fangs.

The body of the demon changed back into the form of the original person that was overcome: a man that resembled Leoko. The necklace in Mikita's teeth jerked from her grip and escaped once again, flying upwards and leaving through the skies. Mikita growled and she focused her sight on Zoro. Where he had swords, it looked as if he were the attacker as well. The kunai was still in Mikita's side also, but she was fighting completely against the paralysis now. She was not consciously aware of who he was to her at the moment as she prepared to attack a vital point on his neck. She then leaped at him, her fangs aimed at his neck.

"Look out Zoro!" Leona yelled as Mikita neared him. At that instant, Zoro transformed and almost effortlessly pinned Mikita to the ground. He grabbed the kunai with his fangs and pulled it out. Mikita yelped and bit into his front leg. She clamped down so deeply that her fangs reached the bone. "You have to stop her Zoro!" Karasu yelled. Zoro didn't respond to the bite by striking back, instead gently leaning over to touch his mark to hers.

Mikita's eyes widened, flashing back to their normal crystal blue color. "Zoro…" she muttered before whimpering with her pain. Leona and Karasu sighed with relief. Zoro smiled. "It's alright." He lightly licked her cheek. Mikita smiled back as she nuzzled him for a bit before flinching with more pain. She noticed the wound in his front leg as she licked it, healing it. She looked sadly into Zoro's eyes for a moment, but her sight was soon directed toward Leoko, who was looking away from his cousin's headless body sadly. "He's gone…"

Mikita was once again in her semi-human form as she walked closer. "No… He's still here." Leoko watched her curiously as she felt his cousin's chest, her eyes closed. "The soul doesn't leave immediately. There's still time." She concentrated and healed his head back onto his body. The man opened his eyes and blinked at Mikita. "What…? What happened?" Leoko looked at him surprised. "You're alive?" He looked at Mikita with shock and gratitude. "Thank you so much."

Mikita nodded while holding her side. "No problem." She healed her wound where the kunai had penetrated her near her stomach. She was worried that it had gotten to her child as she bit her lower lip gently. She was also still weak from the battle as her eyes narrowed. Zoro looked at Leona and then at Mikita as if asking a question silently. Leona smiled at him softly and looked at Mikita. "It's okay Mikita. The baby's all right. Come on. We need to get you back to the ship and let you rest okay?" Mikita nodded weakly.

Once they returned to the ship, Leoko and his cousin stood by it. "Well I suppose we should be heading back to our place now, eh cuz?" Before Leoko could respond, Karasu came up behind him and glomped him. "You're not going to take Fluffy away! He's staying with us!" His cousin looked at him strangely. "Fluffy?" Leoko sighed. "Don't ask. I don't even know."

Leona smiled at Leoko. "It would be handy having someone like you coming along with us, the way you can control water and everything." Leoko considered it and looked down at Karasu's arms wrapped tightly around him. He then looked up at his cousin. "Well, I guess I'm joining the Strawhats then." Karasu smiled widely. "YAY! Fluffy's staying!" Leona lightly chuckled as she got on the ship.

As they said this, a second ship appeared on the horizon. Mikita looked out at it. "Zoro, who is that? Is it another marine ship?" Zoro squinted. "It looks like..." At that point, the distinctive flag of the Strawhat Pirates became visible on the sail. Karasu smiled. "They're back!" Leoko smiled at his cousin. "You can have your ship back now dude." His cousin nodded. "Good to know. Good to know." Leoko smirked and watched the ship as it grew closer.

Zoro quickly transferred ships. He looked at Chopper. "How are the injuries?" Chopper smiled. "Fine Zoro. Robin was the worst..." He looked over and saw the woman with a cast on her leg. She looked up at him and smiled, then went back to reading her book. Mikita slowly made her way onto the ship, weak, tired, and drained out from the battle. She stopped on deck and sat down against the mast, taking in deep and slow breaths. Zoro sat down next to her. "Are you alright though?" Mikita nodded. "I'm fine. I didn't receive as much damage as last time." He smiled. "I'm glad." Mikita nodded at him. "So am I." She then closed her eyes. "There's one thing I have to say however…"

In that next moment, you hear the impact of a strong hit. Zoro's head was trapped within the floorboard of the Merry, just as Luffy's was when she got mad at him for eating her cheesecake. "I TOLD YOU I WASN'T LEAVING YOU AND YOU GO AGAINST ME ANYWAY! DO YOU KNOW HOW THAT PISSES ME OFF?" Everyone else on the Merry sweatdropped at Mikita's sudden burst of anger and power. Leona blinked. "Remind me never to piss Miki off…" Karasu nodded with wide eyes.

Zoro hadn't even resisted. He simply pulled his head out of the floorboards and gave it a shake. "I'm not going to deny I deserved that." Mikita glared at him for a bit before she smirked. "Good." She then closed her eyes and leaned back against the mast once more.

Leoko blinked and stared, not knowing what to comment about any of it. Karasu smirked at him. "Fluffy's confused." Leoko nodded blankly. "Yes I am." Nami looked at him and sighed. "Well you'll be feeling that a lot more if you're planning to spend time with us." Leoko smirked and leaned his head back. "Eh, most of my days are spent in confusion." Karasu chuckled. "You're funny." Leoko opened one eye and looked at her. "Damn straight."

After a few minutes of preparing the Merry had set sail again. Zoro was looking concerned though. "Mikita... have you noticed something?" Mikita looked at him curiously. "What is it?" Zoro looked somewhat concerned. "Your fathers attempts on you are growing more frequent. Before we came to your island he only attacked you once every so often. Now though, he barely waited a week before attacking you again." Mikita nodded. "Where I've jumped up to an A class demon, I pose more of a threat and a challenge for him. He won't stop until he gets a hold of my power."

Zoro sighed. "I'm sorry..." Mikita looked at him. "For what hun?" He leaned his head against hers. "For not being there for you." Mikita smiled and stroked the back of his neck tenderly. "It's okay. You got there." Zoro looked at her sadly. "Almost too late though." Mikita gave him a quick kiss to silence his worry. "Don't worry about it." She smiled warmly at him. Zoro smiled folding his hand over hers as he looked out at the open sea. Mikita leaned against him with a content smile as she too looked out at the waters.

The calm moment was soon interrupted by the sound of things crashing and Karasu's shout of the word, "SHIT!" Mikita looked back at her and raised an eyebrow. Karasu just blinked at them as she sat there after having fallen. "Uhh… sorry." Mikita snickered quietly and leaned on Zoro once again. "Lucky, but clumsy."

_Leoko Mystuga! YAYAYAYAYAY! LOL he's the character of a friend of mine. I thought he was too awesome to be left out, so I brought him into the story. Sorry if he's not exact in character Kevvy, but I'm making him as in character as possible. _


	23. Chapter 23

The Merry sailed along casually to wherever it was headed next. Mikita and Zoro lie asleep in the crow's nest that next morning, as usual. Also as a normal routine, Karasu and Luffy were competing in something stupid as they usually chose to do. They sat there and laughed stupidly as they passed their morning hours away.

Leona was sitting in her own corner as she had been lately, looking out at the waters and spending her moments alone. Sitting near her was Leoko, who was staring out at the waters as the small waves rippled by. He sighed with boredom and began to manipulate the waters into shapes with his powers. He made a shape that took the form of a diving dolphin and made that water shape splash back into the water as if it were an actual dolphin. Leona saw this and it caught her attention, as she looked at him half amazed. "How did you do that?" Leoko shrugged. "I was born with that ability. If only I didn't have half the powers, I wouldn't have merely half the skill." Leona looked at him curiously. "What do you mean?"

"I'm a half demon," Leoko replied as he made the shape of a shark's fin on the surface of the water. Leona nodded. "I see. I am half and half as well. I am half fire demon and half Sanjian." Leoko looked at her. "Ah, but Sanjian are not simple humans, as my other half is." Karasu looked at him and went over to him. "Fluffy is part human. Yup. Yup." Leona looked at him. "Oh really? Interesting. My sisters are two different halves of demons, one of their halves being fire. I guess we're all mixed up here huh?" Leoko smirked. "Guess so."

A dull voice sounded behind them. "Breakfast is ready." Sanji then turned and walked back into the kitchens. Leona looked at him sadly for a moment, but then she just glared at her food for no particular reason. Leoko blinked. "This is one of those moments that I don't want to ask about isn't it?" Karasu nodded. "Yeppers." Leoko shrugged and picked up his fork. "Coolie. I got a pancake." Karasu chuckled at how humorous his tone of voice was to her. He had a casual tone of voice, but it was one of those phrases that seemed randomly funny to her. He just had a naturally comical disposition.

It was a brilliant looking meal laid out for them. Everything had been done perfectly. There was no reflection of Sanji's current state in the food he cooked, which was still as good as ever. Mikita smelled it from her spot in the crow's nest and she smiled as she sniffed the air. She then sat up and took in a deep breath, looking down below at everyone eating their food. Zoro looked at her. "Think we should?" Mikita smiled and nodded as she jumped down to the deck. "I smell something good." She smelled the air again and made a disgusted face. "Ugh, and something not-so-good."

"Sorry," Karasu replied before she took another bite of her food. Mikita just rolled her eyes and got her food, sitting near the mast to eat it. Leoko smirked. "Nothing like natural gases in the morning eh?" This even got a chuckle out of Leona. Zoro smirked. "I'm so glad I don't have your sensitive sense of smell all the time." Mikita looked at him flatly. "Ha. Ha." Zoro shrugged. "Well, it's the truth."

Leona was deep in thought as she poked at her food. _Sanji's really this upset? But he shouldn't care this much. I'm just another girl in his eyes. He may say that he likes me more than the others, but he still likes the others hopelessly as well._ She sighed and poked a piece of her pancake with her fork. _I shouldn't think on it all that much. _

An arm stretched from behind Karasu and grabbed her food while she wasn't looking and then snapped back to Luffy who promptly ate it and hid his thoughts. Or at least he thought he could. Karasu sighed and stood up. _When will these people learn?_ She walked over to where Luffy was. Mikita watched her go over there and soon looked back down at her food. "That isn't going to be a pretty sight." Leoko smirked. "Makes me wish I had a camera." Mikita smirked back at him with one eyebrow elevated. Leoko copied her and did the same. Mikita held in a laugh and went back to eating.

Pretty soon they hear the sound of a barrel being pounded down and they look up to see Karasu walking back toward them. "That should do it." Luffy was now squished up in a tiny barrel that she had forced over him. Leoko smirked. "That guy's like a contortionist eh?" Karasu nodded. "Yeah. Pretty much." Then the barrel exploded sending the iron ring into the back of Karasu's neck, and Luffy's arm went flying and smacked into her cheek leaving a bruise. Karasu held her neck and glared at him. "LUFFY!" She then leaped and attacked him as the two fought it out.

Leoko just blinked and stared as he watched them. "Okay then…" Mikita smiled with a sweatdrop. "It happens a lot. They always laugh about it in the end, because they're weird like that." Loud yells of 'Gomu Gomu no Pistol', 'Gomu Gomu no Bullet' and 'Gomu Gomu no Bazooka' were heard from Luffy's end. Zoro sweatdropped. "With him using moves like those, I'll be amazed if Karasu is still able to stand by the end of this..." Mikita smirked at him. "Pssh! She'll be fine." All you hear from Karasu's end is, "HIY YAH!" and then there's complete silence after one last splash. "LOSER!" You then hear bubbling sounds in the water while Karasu walks back toward them with a smile. "I win."

Zoro sweatdropped. "Well, someone should go and get him out before he drowns." There was no response. Zoro glared at everyone. "Why am I always the one who has to do the work..." He dove off the side of the ship. Mikita shrugged and yelled, "PERVERT! I NEED SECONDS!" There were the sounds of something being made inside the kitchens and then Sanji came out, gave Mikita a second heap of pancakes and then walked back, closing the door behind him without saying a word. Karasu blinked. "You're depressing! Jeez!" She then went back to eating her food. She glanced over at Mikita's food and pondered for a moment. As she reached her hand out to it, Mikita growled and took off with her food, running to another corner with it.

Zoro climbed back up onto the ship with a soaking wet Luffy. "Karasu, you nearly killed him you know that? He was sinking fast, unable to move, and there was a Sea King below just about to eat him!" Karasu gasped and ran to hug Luffy. "I'm so sorry! EEEEEEEEEE!" His poor ears… Luffy blinked as water started pouring out of his ears. "What? Sorry, I didn't hear you."

Karasu slammed him down onto the deck roughly and yelled, "He needs mouth-to-mouth! He's delirious!" She ripped off her shirt and said, "Don't worry. I'm a professional." She then started breathing into Luffy's mouth. Mikita sweatdropped. "This does not look right." Leoko also sweatdropped. "Nope… Why does she rip her shirt off like that?" Mikita sighed. "She thinks she is supposed to." In moments Luffy had more than tripled in size and was now round like his Gomu Gomu no Balloon. Leona sweatdropped. "Karasu… you're gonna make him blow up…"

At that moment Sanji came outside. He had a cigarette in hand and when he turned to look at Karasu a flicker of the old him came back. A smile crept over his face and his eyes gleamed a bit. Still it was a mere shadow of what it should have been. Leona saw this and glared lightly as she looked back toward Karasu. She yanked her sister off of the inflated Luffy, and once she let go Luffy was sent flying like a balloon with a hole in it. Leona threw her shirt at her. "Quit being stupid!"

"Stop being so jealous!" Karasu retorted. She put her hand on her hip. "I'm just too cute." Leona smacked her hand onto her forehead as she just walked off. The gloomy look reappeared on Sanji's face as he walked across the deck and looked out vacantly at the sea. Karasu put her shirt on and glared at Leona. "Now you hurt his feelings again!" She went over and hugged Sanji. "It's okay pervy." Mikita blinked. "That's probably not such a smart thing to do… Oh well." She went back to guarding and eating her food in her own corner.

That flicker of a smile came back to Sanji's face. "Thank you Karasu-chwan." Karasu looked at him a bit sadly, but then she yelled, "DEPRESSING!" She then walked away and left him there to mope. Sanji blinked. "I'm not that bad am I…?" Mikita and Karasu both replied, "Yes." Leona rolled her eyes and went in the cabin. "So are you Leona!" Karasu yelled at her when she left. Sanji blinked and then looked back at the water dully.

Zoro stared at him. "Never seen Ero-cook like this before." Mikita looked at Zoro. "Do you think he actually loves Leona?" Zoro rolled his eyes. "Maybe he thinks he does. I'm not sure he knows how to love." Mikita looked at him. "But they… never mind. That doesn't really matter anymore with relationships. Usually it results in the end of so-called 'relationships' and… Ooh…" She shrugged and took another bite of her pancake. "That could be why."

Zoro blinked. "What?" Mikita looked at him again, blinked, and then went back to eating. Zoro blinked as well. "Seriously, what did you mean by that statement?" Mikita looked at him. "Oh. No, I didn't mean you and me. I meant the couples that aren't exactly couples and it's lust… ya know what I mean?" Zoro blinked. "Not at all." Mikita smirked at him. "Oh well." She then resumed eating, satisfied with his confusion. Zoro blinked again. "Whatever." Mikita just smiled sneakily at him.

Karasu walked over to Leoko and watched as he threw his boomerang out toward a ledge, breaking all the trees that hung off of the ledge of that island. "Good aim there," Karasu stated as she watched it return to him. Leoko nodded. "Yeah. It's all about the angle of the throw." Karasu grinned. "That would be handy in a battle."

Mikita smirked at hearing this. "Yeah, maybe if he had more than half the skills." Leoko raised an eyebrow at her. "Are you implying something?" Mikita shrugged. "Maybe I am. Maybe I'm not." Leoko stared at her. "You're the one that's pregnant." Mikita leered at him. "Are you going somewhere with this?" Leoko shrugged. "Maybe I am. Maybe I'm not." He copied one of her previous statements to mock her, and this irritated her as she stood up. "That's it." She drew her Dragon Tail and glared at him competitively. "Come on. I'll prove to you that I can take you down easily."

Leoko rose to his feet casually and unsheathed Kyoutzai, his sword. "Don't underestimate me wolf. Just because I have half the power doesn't mean I haven't put in twice the effort." Zoro looked at Mikita nervously. "Just watch out for yourself Mikita. Pregnancy is starting to slow you down." Mikita shot a glare toward Zoro. "You know, that statement could get you into a lot of trouble right now. I am NOT slowing down!" Zoro rolled his eyes. "Oh? You seem a lot slower than you did on that night you tried to steal the food off the ship when we met."

In a split second, Mikita charged at him with lightning speed and pinned him, attempting to punch him across the face. He knew this was coming however and he stopped her fist. Mikita growled at him. "You still say I'm slow? If you do, then you're blind!" Zoro smirked. "I never said you were slow. But you're slower than you used to be." Mikita glared at him for a moment, but then she looked away sadly. "You're so unfair to me." Zoro rolled his eyes. "Since when? I'm not saying you shouldn't be fighting. I'm simply asking you to be more careful." Mikita glared at him and aimed a scratch across his face while she figured she would have him caught off guard. The scratch drew a thin line of blood. "Yeah, alright, you vented some anger, so now that you've gotten that out of your system, go kick Leoko's ass."

Mikita still glared at him. "That's not the point! With you I'm always falling! Always losing and never winning! It's not fair damn it! I am not weak, nor am I slowing down, but no matter how strong I am, you're always a step ahead." She sighed and got off of him as she stood up. "I guess being my mate has given you some extra advantages as well. I'll deal with you later, but for now it's Leoko's turn to witness my power." Zoro smirked. _You're really strong Mikita, I'm just stronger. _

Leoko smirked and spun his sword boredly, and soon after he bowed. "I'm sorry to break such a lovely moment but I want to kick your ass" He prepared to fight with his stance. "I don't like to attack women first so I'll let you take the first move." Mikita smiled evilly as she unsheathed her sword once more. "Fine by me." She stood where she was and sent a fast strike of spiritual energy toward him. Leoko laughed and sidestepped it easily, letting the energy fly by. "Too slow. Try again," he said rather bored. Leoko then created an ice shield and charged Mikita with the shield in front.

Everyone around them watched them intently. Karasu smirked. "This should be a very interesting battle, considering they both hold each other's weaknesses." Mikita reacted by throwing her hottest flames at the shield from her sword, burning the shield down to nothing. Leoko stared at the pool of water at his feet and laughed. "You can use fire eh? Damn that's interesting." He smirked and froze her legs slowly moving up the body.

Mikita gritted her teeth with the pain the ice was causing her. It got up to her upper legs and she stopped it by touching her flaming sword to it. The ice melted away and she sighed. She then turned to him with a smirk. "Nice one. Let's see you deal with my mirage blades." She sheathed her sword and crossed her arms at her chest. As she released her attack and slashed at him with both hands, ten fiery blades came at him in different intervals.

Leoko sweatdropped then sighed, calmly making ten clones of himself and sent them forward. All of them were hit by the blades except him. He laughed. "Ok let's try this again." He froze her blade in supposedly unbreakable ice then continued to freeze her slowly starting from the feet again.

Mikita growled and glared at him as the ice began freezing her legs. "You know I've been through this before, recently in fact, and there's one thing I've learned from 'unbreakable' ice." She smirked. "This is going to be like killing two birds with one stone." She took in a breath and yelled out a high shrill note, shattering all of the ice attacks that he had thrown at her. This also attached her curse-like spell to him as she smirked. "Let me know if the headache gets too extreme for you. I may spare you and dull the migraine down a bit," she taunted sarcastically. "Oh and by the way, my attack isn't over yet." The ten fiery blades that were patiently floating in the air began splitting into many blades, creating innumerable amounts of flames flying toward his true body. "They attract to your body heat, so don't go thinking you can escape them." Karasu nodded. "Impressive. That's two complicated moves in one…" Zoro held his ears when she'd used that move. "Ouch... that was really high pitched..." Chopper, on the other hand, was actually unconscious from the technique. Mikita smirked. "Precisely. Imagine how horrible it must be for the one struck with the curse." Zoro smirked. "Impressive..."

Leoko's head exploded in pain from the scream, but then he smirked and his necklace began to glow. He laughed. "You too underestimate who I have fought and what defenses I possess. This necklace will luckily prevent the migraine." He then sweatdropped as he saw all the blades rushing toward him. "Damn, this is going to be fun." Leoko charged at Mikita dodging and weaving the blades to the best of his ability, but he was still unlucky as he was hit by a couple of them. He winced and dove forward pretending to swing his sword, then punched at Mikita's nose.

Mikita dashed by him and his fist flew by her where she was previously standing. Leoko then swung Kyoutzai in a wide arc. The rest of the blades changed their course and caught up with him, exploding on him in their flames. Mikita smirked. "So you think you can block my curse, do you? Well let's just take this up a notch, shall we?" Her eyes flashed red hues into his, strengthening the curse.

The explosions lasted for quite a long period of time. He finally walked out a little bruised. He stared at Mikita for a long time before saying, "That really hurt," in a rather pissed off tone. "Jeez! I'm not doing much damage to you and you go all ape on me." He sighed and threw his boomerang aiming for Mikita's temple, then pulled the water around him to hold her down with the force of the entire ocean's weight. He smirked and pulled out his bow. "You know there is not a chance that I'll miss this shot since your entire body except your nose is held in over 100 tons weight of water, so…" He aimed for her upper torso. "You wanna quit now or make me shoot at your upper torso?"

Karasu smirked with a sneaky little idea as she pointed at Leoko's bow. "AAAHH! CHOOOOO!" She feigned a sneeze and made his bow aim down, the arrow shooting into his foot. Karasu grinned sneakily, trying to seem innocent. "Bless me." Leona chuckled. "He's nailed to the ship…" Mikita smirked at Karasu as thanks as she drew her Dragon Tail once more. She jerked it to its whip state and swirled it below her, aiming for his feet. "Dance! Fool! Dance!" She chuckled.

Leoko laughed and tangoed around Mikita's whip as he smirked at Karasu, holding the arrow in his hand. "You just had to cut in eh?" His grip loosened on the arrow as he dropped it to the ground. He jumped and kicked at Mikita's face as he tackled her. He then held Karasu down. "Don't even think about it Kari." He pulled the bow out and fired it point blank into Mikita's upper torso, and then jumped back rapidly firing. As the arrow made contact and penetrated her chest a bit, she stopped it as well as she could by taking hold of it with swift action. The ice burned her flesh as she closed her eyes tightly. Mikita pulled the arrow out, flinching a bit, and she healed her wound. "Ow…" She growled and glared at Leoko.

Karasu glared at Leoko as arrows went right by her head luckily. "I'll show you…" She then drew her dagger and threw it into Leoko's stomach. "Stop being a stupid cutie!" Mikita sweatdropped. "Uhh, you shouldn't have interfered Karasu…" Karasu looked at her and sighed. "You're right. Sorry." She backed away and went to sit next to Luffy. She jerked her dagger out of his stomach with her telekinesis as she caught it and sheathed it. "Resume your battle." Leona looked at Karasu and blinked. "Where did you get that dagger?" Karasu grinned. "I stole it from this one guy who said he stole it from this one place so I killed him because of a butterfly and… you know what, it's a long story." Leona sweatdropped. "Okay…"

Zoro glared at Karasu. "You shouldn't have intervened. If it starts a one on one then that's how it should be the whole way through, no matter how badly one of the fighters is winning. Before you arrived, there is not a single member of this crew who would let someone else intervene in a battle." Karasu looked at him. "…And?" Zoro just glared at her. "Why'd you have to intervene?" She smiled. "Because I'm the comic relief." He blinked. "The what?" Karasu sighed. "Just shut up and watch the duel." Zoro still stared. _Comic Relief???_

Leoko sighed and looked at Mikita. "You can heal your wounds too?" He pouted. "That's not very fair is it?" He sighed and fired a dragon's breath from his sword. Mikita smiled and simply allowed the fire to come into contact with her. As it engulfed her, she absorbed it into her own powers. "Why thank you for that little burst of energy there, though it was nothing but a mere twinge on my power." She smirked and twirled the Dragon Tail above her head, creating a tornado that held the fire within it. This powerful tornado soon came straight for Leoko. As it approached him, she knew that he would be focused on blocking it, so she took advantage of the curse within him by sending a pulse that shocked through his head, causing him to lose the moment's focus and sight.

Leoko jumped back holding his head moaning, "Godammit! Not fair Mikita!" His necklace started to glow and it slowly went away. He smiled and dodged the tornado's path. "Ahh that's better." He glared at Mikita and he glowed bright blue instantly appearing before Mikita slashing at inhuman speed. Mikita smirked and rapidly slashed back at him, causing their swords to meet with impact each time. She yawned and shoved him back. "This is getting old."

He stopped and sighed as he held his head. "A girl with a demonic whip/sword who can heal herself and throw tornadoes at you… Fine I'll make it interesting." He created ice slowly taking over the ship and moving toward Mikita. He smiled and created cufflings made of ice. "This ice is indestructible no matter what you throw at it so it will get you. It's taking over an area around the ship so don't try to escape." He unsheathed his sword. "If you use magic it will lash at you so it's just you and me in a sword duel." Mikita smirked and held her sword. "Sounds fair to me." She stood in a defensive position, prepared to fight.

Zoro rolled his eyes. "Don't throw around words like 'indestructible' so carelessly. Especially when there are people listening that could split something this flimsy with ease." Karasu looked at Zoro. "And what happened to 'don't interfere' huh? Jeez, you're contradicting yourself."

Leoko smirked and jumped. Damn straight he made it interesting, he swung at Mikita with such speed that it could barely be seen. Mikita's speed was just as quick as his as she matched up their speeds, slashing at him rapidly.

Zoro looked at Karasu. "No I'm not. I'm simply telling him not to flaunt words like 'ultimate' or 'unbreakable'." Karasu leered at him. "And you're distracting them! Stupid retarded contradictor! Dragon hating sexist retard that hates male tiger demons!" Leona listened to their argument as she blinked at them. "…What?" Zoro rolled his eyes. "Stop saying things that don't make sense." He then smashed her head into the mast with such speed that even with her reactions and telekinesis she wouldn't have had time to react. He then braced for a return strike.

Karasu sat up and scratched her head. "Man that itches! I HATE ITCHING! Do you know how bad that itches?" She glared at him darkly and kicked for the area between his legs. Zoro slammed his knees together before it could make contact with the desired point but the kick instead collided with both knees sending him up into the air. He then performed a swift elbow strike at Karasu's throat, focusing his mind to deflect any form of her telekinesis.

Karasu ducked this move and made a swift uppercut with her fist. "WEEEEEE!" Zoro bent almost ninety degrees backwards and then brought both fists crashing into Karasu's shoulders. Karasu braced for the impact, and when his fists hit her shoulders, she didn't even move from her spot. Of course it hurt, but she wasn't going to show it as she smirked. She then used her long dragon tongue to smack him in the face repeatedly. Of course she slobbered on him in the process.

Leoko smirked and increased their fighting speed. Mikita slashed rapidly with her sword as the blade began to glow with fire. Leoko smirked as he parried and spun his sword. Mikita lashed out with her Dragon Tail, wrapping it around his sword to halt it in its tracks. She then used her free hand and slashed at his arm with her flaming claws. Leoko grabbed her hand and flipped her over his shoulder but he forgot it still had him tangled and he flipped too. "Ahh shit!" He fell down but got back up and sheathed his sword giving him ice cufflings on his hands and ran at her rapidly punching at her with his spiky ice gloves.

Mikita blinked. "That's new… I wonder…" She sheathed her sword and made her fists burst into flames as she smirked. "Awesome!" She then started punching back at him. Their fists made contact and the attacks cancelled out. Mikita's flames disappeared as well as his icy gloves. Mikita blinked. "Well shit. Ice and fire just cancel each other out I suppose…" She sweatdropped. "Oh well. Back to the old fashioned way." She ran at him with her hand on the Dragon Tail's handle as if she were going to unsheathe it with a sudden attack. Instead, she rolled under him and landed behind him, leaping onto his back as her flaming claws jabbed into his shoulders.

Leoko winced as her claws dug into him but then he smiled. "No I wont give you a piggy back ride but here…" He jumped down and made Mikita's back land hard on the ice around the ship. This was extremely painful for her as her eyes widened and her claws dug deeper into his flesh. The ice was burning its way into her powers, making her gradually weaker. At least, if she had let it go on for that long. She growled and turned into her wolf form as she bit into his shoulder near his neck, close to a vital point. This was served as a warning as she kicked him off and leaped off of the ice. She took a bit to gather her breath and senses as she leered at him. "Not too smart there." She smirked through her fangs.

Meanwhile with the other current battle, Zoro was surprised to see the tongue slashing into his face. He then brought his fist crashing up into Karasu's gut, putting most of his power behind it. It was a punch that could probably knock a navy battleship over, so it would do quite a bit to Karasu. The impact was rather painful and Karasu doubled over fast. A little too fast, for she headbutted Zoro in the face very hard. With her hard head, this impact would be just as powerful as his recent punch.

Zoro staggered, but didn't seem as affected by the headbutt as Karasu was by the punch. Then again, he was quite good at taking damage. He performed a chop across the back of Karasu's neck. However, at that instant… "AAAHHH CHOOOOO!" Her powerful sneeze blew him back. Zoro barely skidded three feet. He smirked. _Wait..._ He dove at the still up breakfast table and grabbed something off it. He charged at Karasu again first hurling pepper in her face to make her sneeze, then shoving her head to a point where the trajectory would cause her to go flying off the ship into the open sea.

His plan worked according to the way he had it planned. She sneezed and flew up high into the air as she flew over the open sea. However, she turned into her dragon form and didn't allow herself to fall into the water. She sniffed. "Wow… that was a good one, but now you'll have to pay for it." She flew toward him and picked him up with her talons, carrying him out over the open sea seventy feet high.

Leoko just stayed on the ice lying there. He looked at all his wounds then back at Mikita he sweatdropped. "Ouch? I'm not leaving this spot…" Mikita smirked. "I take it that you surrender then?" Leoko laughed. "Are you kidding? I'm too stupid to surrender. I'm just… taking a breather." He stood up and stretched as he sighed. "Okay now I'm ready." He grinned and jumped, tackling Mikita and they landed on the crow's nest. He threw Mikita off and fired arrows at her as she fell.

Mikita curled herself up in a ball and her fur seemed to deflect the attacks like steel. She rolled across the deck and popped out of the ball, landing on her feet and glaring at him. She didn't stand there for too long before she leaped at him. She appeared as if she were coming straight at him, but as soon as she seemed as if she were right in front of him, she teleported and came at him from the side, ramming into him and knocking him off the crow's nest.

Leoko grabbed the end of the crow's nest. He grabbed Mikita's tail and threw her down then he climbed back up and looked down. "You want to end it or keep going?" Mikita looked up at him and smirked. "You're the one that will suffer the consequences if you don't end it here, so it's your call." Leoko sighed and thought for a moment, then he sweatdropped. "I'll take the consequences eh." He yelled excitedly and jumped down landing feet first on Mikita's arms. He attempted to ram his sword into her shoulder, but of course her fur stiffened and smoothened out to block it, as if it were metal on metal. Mikita then smirked as her fur burst into flames, scorching him in fire. Also, her fur pointed into spikes and stabbed into him.

Leoko smirked and drowned himself in water putting out the flames. He then jumped off and sheathed his sword. "You have proven your point and I have mine. There is no point in carrying on this fight." He walked back over to the end of the boat and continued to throw his boomerang. Mikita smirked and changed back into her semi-human form. "Good spar, I'll have to admit."

Meanwhile with the dragon and the swordsman, Zoro shrugged. "This it?" He drew his sword and stabbed it into her leg at an angle where she wouldn't be able to dislodge it. Then he made sure to hold the blade in a death grip so she couldn't shake him off. Her first reaction: "OW! Mother f…!" She paused. Her second reaction: Hitting him with her large foot. Her third reaction: Telekinesis on the sword. Since she couldn't use it on him, she used it on his sword so that he couldn't block it. This dislodged the sword from her leg and sent him falling down toward the waters.

Before he could fall he thrusted a second sword in, hooking it so that she couldn't remove it even with telekinesis. "Nice try, but not good enough." Karasu smirked. "All right then…" She then lowered down toward the water and submerged the lower half of her body under the water. Zoro was now completely underwater and locked with his swords while she flew and hovered over the water, flapping her wings. "So are you going to abandon your swords to save your life or what swordsman?" Zoro smirked. _I wouldn't bet on that dragon..._ he stabbed the next sword into her leg then the other again. He used this method to climb up to her back where he then thrusted the blades in so deep they cracked Karasu's backbone and stuck fast. Karasu growled from the pain as she glared. "All right, you want it that way then…" She didn't even have to take a breath before submerging herself completely under the water.

Mikita blinked as she watched this. "So he finally gets the chance to face my sister." She sighed. "So sad. So sad." Zoro smirked underwater drawing his Wadou by pushing the sheath up with his knee, and the grabbing the blade with his mouth. He drew the blade and performed the Sanjuu Roku Pondou Hou across Karasu's back. And it was a very deep cut, likely to leave a scar, even with Mikita's healing abilities. Karasu's flexible neck allowed her to be able to turn around and bite his arm. _Not smart. You know you're only making the water nastier for you. Plus, now you're going to attract the sharks._

Mikita looked into the water that was now flowing with red. "Oh great. This should be interesting." Leoko blinked. "What's the point in this?" Mikita looked at him. "Well… Karasu can go without breathing for… oh say, a few days." She sweatdropped. Zoro just smirked. _True. But lets see how long you can endure my attacks._ He unleashed the Nanajuu Ni Pondou Hou from the blades already embedded in Karasu.

Mikita looked out and saw three approaching shark fins. "Uh oh…" The sharks began to encircle Karasu and Zoro. _Oh look we have company_, Karasu stated in her thoughts to him. Zoro blinked. _So?_ A shark came a bit too close. It fell away in two halves, thanks to the sword in Zoro's mouth. Karasu looked at him. _Don't you people have to breathe… like, all the time? You have those 'lungs' or whatever you call 'em._ Zoro smirked. _I've trained underwater quite a lot. I can't last as long as you, but I can probably last several hours underwater._ Karasu was accidentally ignoring him by watching all the blood in the water. _Hey look at all the red. Where's it all coming from? She looked at her back and blinked. Oh, it's coming from me. Stupid sharp seaweeds._

Zoro slashed at her back again with his third sword. Her back was pretty cut up now, and more cuts were appearing by the second. Karasu looked back at him. _Oh yeah I forgot to tell you. My blood is cursed, so if you stay in this water with it for too long, you're gonna die._ She then shrugged. _But that's your problem. You did it._ Zoro smirked all the same. _Sorry to say, but I've broken curses more powerful than this._ His arm was half embedded in her body now and he was gradually moving his blade towards Karasu's heart. _Besides, how do you think Mikita would feel if she found out you killed her mate?_ Karasu raised an eyebrow. _And how would she feel if you killed her sister?_ That's when she realized it. She paused. Something came to her mind at that moment… _You're my brother! I HAVE A BROTHER!_ She simply ripped him off of her back and squished him with a giant bear hug under the water… a very tight hug. _Brother Squish!_

Zoro smirked. _Bad move._ Before she could finish her maneuver, he stabbed the Sandai Kitetsu deep into her chest. Karasu simply squished him tighter in her happiness, not even realizing the pain and deepness of the cut. _Squish the brother! SQIUSH THE BROTHER! Hey look more red…_ She then noticed how far the sword was embedded in her chest and she raised an eyebrow at him. _You might want to take that out of there…_ Zoro glared daggers. _I'm not losing this match. _Karasu shrugged. _Fine. I'll just tell everyone what you did to Leona._ Zoro blinked, and dug his blade deeper. His blade had punctured so deep that almost his entire arm was in the wound. _What did I do to Leona?_ Karasu gritted her teeth as she glared at him, showing the hint of a smirk. _Let your imagination go wild. I know I will. I can also mention to a certain pervert how you're just trying to touch my chest. I'm just too cute huh? Oh and let's not forget about Mikita's broken heart… _

Zoro didn't even flinch. _Leona will know I've done nothing though._ He dug in a second sword. Karasu clenched her teeth tighter. _So? Leona hates you. She'll go along with it. Plus, she's the one that's more tied with Sanji._ She smirked. _I can make the whole ship hate you, and pile on you too. And you know something else? You won't stop touching my chest you pervert! Mikita's going to hate you for cheating on her, AND KILLING HER SISTER AFTER THAT! _She clamped onto him as her maw wrapped around his chest and upper back. She punctured his skin just as much as he was puncturing her. _If you push those swords in any farther, I'll do the same with my fangs. And that'll be an accident too._ Karasu always clamped her teeth down in pain. It was an impulse.

Zoro twisted his blade. _You're going to try double suicide? Baka. You're nowhere near strong enough to kill me._ He started digging his second sword in deeper. Karasu clamped down harder due to the increase in pain. Her teeth punctured his chest and back so deeply that his ribs began to crack. _It's more your loss than it is mine, and it's homicide along with a suicide you baka. _If Karasu were to bite down any harder, his broken rib would puncture his heart and kill him instantly. _There's no way to escape my grasp human. _Zoro's teeth gritted. _Try your hardest then. You won't kill me._ He twisted his third blade and stabbed it into Karasu dangerously close to her eye. As he did so his blade was slowly nearing her heart. Karasu clamped down just a little harder and the rib split and snapped, coming dangerously close to his heart. Another of her large fangs began to puncture his neck. The ocean was full of their blood. Now her cursed blood was mixing with his blood and wounds, putting his life in danger even more.

Mikita looked out and noticed that the water was boiling up farther out in the distance. Her eyes widened. "Oh no. They both got too competitive. One of them could die… or both!" She bit her lower lip in panic. Leoko looked at Mikita strangely. "They wouldn't literally kill each other would they?" Mikita looked at him nervously. "Zoro never gives up and Karasu… she kills people by accident…"

_Does Karasu actually have the power to kill Zoro? What do you think?_


	24. Chapter 24

The bubbling water was caused by the fire coming from Karasu's mouth, scorching Zoro and all the water around him. This also killed any nearby fish as they went floating up to the surface of the water. Zoro dug his second blade as deep in as the first, then took out his third blade and plunged it into Karasu's eye. That was enough to end it all right there. Karasu roared out in pain as she clamped down much harder. More of his ribs cracked and the one that was so dangerously close to his heart reached it and drove through it, all the way to his back where it pointed out through it.

Zoro felt her fang go through his heart, as he vomited up blood. _Damn it..._ He turned his own blade slamming it through Karasu's heart. This only went through a small portion of her large heart, though she felt the pain to an extreme extent. Karasu began to float down to the bottom, taking Zoro with her clamped in her teeth. As this happened, she bit down even harder and punctured even more of his vital organs, breaking his arms in the process. The pressure of the deep seas would be an even greater threat to the swordsman's life. As all of this was happening, the Merry lost sight of them and Mikita sighed. "Oh great."

Zoro was struggling to keep consciousness, taking out one of the three swords and slashed at Karasu's throat while forcing his sword deeper into Karasu's heart. This only served to make her bite down even harder. Soon, her teeth would meet each other in the middle and probably sever his chest from his body. As an addition, more heat was emitted from her mouth as it scorched him. Zoro's vision was blurring fast, as he brought his blade across Karasu's throat. Blood began gushing out in torrents. If she didn't die from the blood loss then she'd die from choking on her own blood. He continued twisting his blade into her heart, as his vision started to darken. His heart had already stopped beating, so he only had a few seconds left to keep his oath and bring the match to at least a draw.

The wound in her throat began to spew out blood and she was in tremendous pain. She had already lost consciousness, but her yokai state had taken over and she went into frenzy, swimming lightning fast up toward the surface of the water. She shot out of the water as their blood dripped down to the waters. Mikita had seen this from a distance as the large dragon flew through the air. "Guys! We need to turn back! NOW!"

Karasu flew crookedly through the air in zigzags before she finally crashed onto an island with Zoro still in her maw. As she landed, her jaw hit the ground and clamped down the rest of the way as her teeth met in the middle. Zoro's eyes blurred and his vision faded into darkness. Mikita could sense this as the mark on her neck began to ache. She put her hand over it and looked out at the island in shock. "No way! They didn't just…!" Leona looked at her. "What happened? What is it?" She started getting a bit worried due to Mikita's expression. Mikita looked at Leona with a fearful expression. "They just… killed each other." Leona gasped in shock. "A-Are you sure?" Mikita held the mark on her neck and nodded. The Strawhat crew stared at the two of them. Nami had a hand over her mouth. "What can we do?" The mark on Mikita's neck was slowly fading away. "Damn it! We have to hurry and get to them! Maybe I can fix this!" Nami looked at her. "How?"

"The soul doesn't leave the body fully until an hour after death, so if I can heal their injuries, then maybe they'll return to their bodies if they haven't lost too much blood…" Mikita sweatdropped. She looked at all the blood in the ocean and sighed. "This might lessen the odds of that happening though…" The mark on her neck lost yet another part of its edge and Mikita was beginning to worry a bit more. "Just hurry and get to that island! LEOKO!" Leoko nodded. "I'm on it." He used his powers to make it get there faster. Nami looked over her shoulders at the others. "What are you guys waiting for? Move!" They ran around the ship setting the sails as Nami directed to ensure maximum speed.

Once they arrived at the island, Mikita ran over to them. "Oh great. They're still yet losing blood too! SHIT!" She blinked at Zoro, who was trapped tight between the dragon's teeth. "Uhh… first thing's first. We have to get him out of her mouth… somehow." Nami looked at Luffy and nodded. Luffy pulled back his arms. "Gomu Gomu no Bazooka!" He struck Karasu's fangs with the attack, shattering the ones holding Zoro.

Mikita used her telekinesis that she learned from Karasu to lift Zoro out of her maw and safely to the ground, while blood poured out of his wounds. She stared at his deformed body. "Eww…" Mikita felt of her neck as the mark faded even more. _I have to hurry._ She got down on her knees next to him and her hands began to glow a bright blue. As she put them over his chest, yet it wasn't necessary to touch him, she moved her hands down and scanned his entire body as it healed his wounds. His ribs and other broken bones formed back together as well, but the only downside is that she couldn't restore the amount of blood that he had lost in the battle. "Come on Zoro… please wake up." There was a dull thumping sound, at first faint and undeterminable. However it slowly started to become clearer and more frequent. Zoro's heart had started beating.

Mikita sighed with relief. Now that she knew he was alive, she could go on to healing Karasu. As she turned to look at her sister's lifeless form, she sweatdropped, for Karasu's dragon body was very large… like ten times larger than her. "Well this is going to be a pain in the ass…" She sighed and walked over to Karasu, climbing up her scales to reach her chest. She looked at the massive wounds and blinked. "Whoa… Zoro's swords are still in there!" She used the telekinesis to remove the Wadou from the large wound. She then took out the Sandai as well as she laid them down on the shore next to Zoro. He still had his other sword, the Yubashiri, with him. Mikita then proceeded to heal the chest wound, little by little.

Once it was healed, she had to jump down to heal the wound on her back. "Damn that's a large slash!" She sighed and healed it as well, though as Zoro had said, it left a scar across her back. She then walked over to Karasu's large head and noticed the cracked teeth. She sweatdropped as she healed them. _Lucky thing I can heal bones as well or Luffy would be the next to die…_

After an annoyance of healing and laboring, she finally had Karasu all 'bandaged up' after her battle. The sound of her large heartbeat brought relief to her worried heart. She looked over at the bloody swords and thought for a moment. "I guess I should get them cleaned off now. They look rather nasty and her cursed blood isn't helping." She lifted the Sandai with her telekinesis to start off with, controlling it to lower into the seawater as it rinsed off. She lowered it down back in its spot next to him as she lifted the Wadou with her powers. Leona looked at Mikita with wide eyes. "Be careful with that one Mikita. That's his most prized sword." Mikita scoffed as she held it in the water. "Pssh! It'll be fine. What could happen?"

As she said that, a shark came and ate it. Leona sweatdropped. "Ooh, Mikita…" Mikita blinked a few times in shock as the shark hurried off out of her range of power. She stood there and blinked for a while as she paused. "Zoro's going to kill me." She looked back at him nervously, seeing that he wasn't fully conscious just yet. "Uhh… maybe he won't notice?" Leona looked at her flatly. "You keep telling yourself that."

Zoro didn't even stir for a long time. But then, he'd actually died, so nobody could blame him. The only other person in the crew who'd actually died before, had been Luffy, and he'd barely been dead for five seconds. Karasu was also having trouble with finding her consciousness. She tried to open her eyes and she finally got them to a squint. "What happened?" Leona looked at her. "Kari, thank goodness you're okay!" Mikita lightly smiled at her sister, but she soon looked sadly and hopefully at Zoro once more.

The swordsman's eyes were already open. Mikita had the appearance of relief as she went to sit by him. She brought up a smirk from her normal self. "Glad to see you're back from the dead." Zoro forced himself up. "Yeah... I guess... what happened while I was out?" Mikita raised an eyebrow and made him lie back down. "You need to rest. You've lost too much blood. Not much has happened…" She tried to hide the fact about the Wadou.

Karasu was trying to sit up as well, but she just remained lying there as she transformed back into her semi-human form. "Well… that was fun," she said with a hint of sarcasm. Mikita looked back at Karasu with a light glare. "If only you could have transformed back before I had to heal your big ass!" Karasu blinked at her sister. "Big ass? YAY! I HAD A BIG ASS!" Karasu yelled in excitement, but this caused her pain as she flinched. Mikita just shook her head in disappointment.

Zoro groaned as he tried to sit up. "Ugh... did you get my swords out of Karasu?" Mikita smiled nervously with a couple more sweatdrops as she made him lie down yet again. "Yep. Got 'em. Heh…" Leona just looked away nervously. _This isn't going to be pretty._ Zoro nodded. "Alright..." He laid back down. Mikita began to sweat even more. _He trusts me… Aww man, this is adding to the guilt shizzy._ Karasu looked at Mikita. _Don't worry. We'll help you find it Miki._ She told her in thought so Zoro wouldn't ask questions.

They finally got Karasu and Zoro back on the Merry to rest. Mikita looked at Zoro and stroked his hair gently. "Now, you stay here and rest. Don't move okay? If you do, I'll smack you." She smirked, trying to hide her nervousness. "If you need anything, I'll be right here and I'll bring it to you. Be right back all right?" She walked out of the cabin and looked at the other crewmembers. "Keep trying to find it guys. I'll stay in there with Zoro to make sure he doesn't move." Leona nodded and Mikita went to see how Karasu was doing. Karasu was in her own little hammock as she relaxed and ate some cheesecake. Mikita smiled at her. "If you need anything, just tell me okay?" Karasu looked at her. "Kay." Mikita then nodded and walked back in the cabin with Zoro. Karasu smirked. "At least I get pampered now."

Mikita sat next to Zoro and said, "Wow. I can't believe you two actually killed each other." Zoro smirked. "I'm not about to break my vow to Kuina now." Mikita smirked. "Told you my sister wasn't weak. I hate to admit this, but she's been an A class demon longer than I have. She's the youngest one, but she's the strongest one, just because she's a dragon."

"I heard that!" Karasu yelled from the hammock in the other room. Mikita sighed. "Plus, she's a mind reader and she's lucky." "And freakin' adorable!" Karasu added. Mikita just rolled her eyes with a smile. Zoro smirked. "Not so adorable anymore now that you've got all those scars on you!" _Not that you ever really were..._

"Same to you cancer face!" Karasu yelled back. Zoro shrugged. "You act like I should give a crap how I look." Mikita smiled at him and touched his cheek. "You look fine sweetness." She then looked back and bit her lower lip nervously. _I hope they find it._ Zoro smiled at her a bit. "Thanks." Mikita looked at him and smiled back.

"Did you get it yet?" Leona asked Leoko, who was using his powers to lift the water up to him. Enclosed in the water was a shark and he looked for any signs of the sword. "Not this one…" He let the control of the water go and released the shark as it swam away. Sadly Luffy, Robin, and Chopper were useless for this, as they couldn't risk falling into the water.

While Leoko continued to search, Mikita stayed by Zoro as he rested, looking outside at the skies and trees alongside the ship on the land. Zoro sighed as he tried to get up, however it still hurt fairly badly to move so he laid back down. Mikita looked at him and sighed. "You just came back from the dead. Stay still all right?" Zoro sighed. "Fine..." Mikita looked at him for a bit before her sight subconsciously moved to an inanimate object as she was in thought.

Zoro looked to one side, thinking back on his match with Karasu. He gritted his teeth in frustration. _If I can't even face her without dying, what makes me think I can hope to face Mihawk?_ Karasu heard his thoughts as she smirked and continued to eat in the other room. Mikita was also sifting through her own thoughts. _What if they never catch the right shark? Zoro will kill me… He'll think I lied to him. _Zoro started to feel sleepy, and then closed his eyes, passing into sleep. Mikita sighed quietly in relief as she noticed that he fell asleep. _Good. There's still time before he notices._

A few hours later, Leoko was still searching by using his powers, but he looked down in disappointment as he let go of another one. "Sorry. No luck." Leona sighed and looked down. "We've been searching for hours and still there's no sign of it." Leoko rolled his eyes. "We? I'm the one searching here." Leona looked at him. "Well, we're all in it together." Leoko smirked. "Like a team eh?" Leona nodded. "Yeah, like that." Leoko nodded with acknowledgement. "Well in that case, someone needs to act like a team member and HELP ME!"

Leona sweatdropped. "Okay… well I could transform into a large bird and lift them from the water…" Leona shape-shifted into a large black bird and flew out over the oceans. She saw a shark swimming by as she grabbed it and flew to Luffy with it, holding it in front of him. "Do you see it in there Luffy? Is it in this one?" Luffy blinked. "How am I supposed to be able to tell?" Leona sighed. "Find a way to tell! This thing is heavy!" Luffy struck it in its stomach to see if it would cough anything up. This served nothing but make the shark angry. Leona hurried and released it. "Not that one."

Leoko looked at her. "Hey Leona… how are we supposed to know that we haven't been getting the same ones over and over again?" Leona looked at him. "What do you mean by that?" Leoko pointed to a scar on one of the sharks. "I saw a scar similar to this one on an earlier one I caught. This could be the same one." Leona sweatdropped. "Oh that's just great," she stated sarcastically. Robin smiled. "Perhaps we should devise a way of marking them to know which ones not to target?" Leoko held the shark that already had a scar on it with the water of the ocean alongside the ship. "This one's already marked, so I know it's not this one." He lowered it back down. "So how should we mark them anyway?" Robin shrugged. "That's up to you to decide. Usopp smirked. "I know!" He took out his slingshot and held in his other hand what looked like badges with barbed pins. "I'll use these!" Leona nodded. "All right."

Mikita was sitting there next to Zoro as she was getting tired herself. She cuddled up next to him and laid her head on his shoulder as she closed her eyes.

Usopp nodded. "Keep going." He loaded a badge into his slingshot. Leoko lifted up another one as well as Leona as they examined them. "I don't see anything in this one." Leoko said. Usopp then aimed his slingshot. "Usopp Mark!" He shot the shark in the side with a badge that used the barb to stay in place, and which wouldn't come out. Leona chuckled. "Usopp mark…" Usopp readied another badge. "Next!"

This search went on until nightfall and they were all disappointed. Leona sighed as she transformed back into her normal state. "Nothing. I can't believe we couldn't find it." Leoko released the last one. "Well at least we tried eh?" Nami sweatdropped. "Before Zoro finds out, I had no part in this." She dashed off. Usopp, Luffy, Chopper... well pretty much the entire rest of the Strawhat crew followed suit. Leona sweatdropped. "Oh great…"

Thankfully, Zoro was asleep. Mikita was asleep with him as she was snuggled up to him. Everyone else on the Merry was asleep except for Luffy and Sanji. Karasu was asleep in her hammock peacefully, but Leona was out on deck looking out at the waters. She was in thought about all that was happening with Mikita, Zoro, Karasu… and even about Sanji. Sanji walked up next to her. "Enjoying the view?" Leona nodded. "Yeah. It's nice I guess…" She had something on her mind that she really wanted to tell him as she turned to him with a sort of desperate charm in her eyes. "Sanji, can I ask you something?" Sanji looked at her. He held a cigarette lightly between two fingers. "What?" Leona leaned closer to him as she spoke. "Forgive me if I'm being forward, but it's just that I haven't had it in so long. It's an addiction. I can't get it off my mind." She looked into his eyes with a longing, lustful look.

Sanji blinked in confusion. "Leona-swan?" Leona moved closer to him as she put one hand on his leg. She was acting sexual and looked as if she were trying to seduce him. "It's just that… I can already feel my tongue around it, licking it and sucking all of what's left in it until there's no more. I want it… I need it…" She moved her face so close that she was almost kissing him, her lips were so close to his. Sanji was unsure of what Leona was trying to do. His face was slowly reddening. He was hoping... Leona gazed passionately into his eyes. "I hope it won't make you feel awkward… me asking you this…" Sanji shook his head. "No…" Leona slid a hand over his hand. "I can already feel it going in hard and coming out all soft and wet. I just have to have it, and I know you'll give it to me." Sanji's blush grew more pronounced. "What is it?"

"Can I have a piece of gum?" Leona came out and asked finally, this time staring at him with a straight, casual face. Sanji performed a face fault. "Yes, of course Leona-swan." The blush had vanished. Leona smirked. _Too easy._ Sanji somehow managed to make a piece of gum and gave it to Leona. Leona blinked and seemed surprised at this for some reason. She accepted it and walked away.

Mikita moved a bit in her sleep as she moved one hand to Zoro's chest, resting it there carefully. Her mouth rested open gently. Zoro's eyes opened. He felt Mikita laying beside/on him. He smiled as he gently slipped his arm around her. Mikita grinned faintly as she nudged him in her sleep subconsciously. Zoro blinked. "Wonder where they put my swords?" Mikita opened her eyes lightly when he said that. "Huh…? Did you say something?" She was still half asleep and his voice just woke her up. Zoro smiled. "Nothing important. I just wanted to know where my katana are." Mikita's eyes opened quickly after he said that. "Oh. You mean the Sandai and the Yubashiri and the…" She stopped herself before she named the Wadou and just stared and blinked. Zoro blinked. "Yeah. That's right."

Mikita blinked and stared at him for a bit longer before she just leaned in and pressed her lips against his. _Kari, see if the others have found the sword yet._ She sent the message through to Karasu, who received the message as she got up out of the hammock and went to see if they found the Wadou. In the meantime, Mikita was trying to keep Zoro distracted with the kiss. Zoro went along with it, though he was getting the feeling Mikita was hiding something from him. Mikita could tell that he was reacting a bit differently, so she deepened the kiss as she massaged his shoulders gently. _I hope he's not onto me…_

Karasu ran up to the others. "Guys! Did you find it?" Leoko and Leona shook their heads. Leoko sighed. "I've been using up so much power that I'm practically drained." Leona nodded. "Same here. Remaining in my shape-shifted form slowly drains the powers out of me too." Karasu sighed. "Great. Well I guess it's up to me now." She used her telekinesis to begin searching.

Zoro smiled, but broke the kiss. "Is there something I should know about?" Mikita paused and stared. "Maybe. Maybe not." Zoro smirked. "Why can't you tell me?" Mikita smirked back. "Maybe because I don't want to." Zoro smirked right back. "All right then." He simply turned away from her. Mikita raised an eyebrow with a sneaky smile. "And just what are you trying to pull now by turning away from me?" Zoro shrugged. "You don't already know?" Mikita looked at him flatly. "I already know that technique isn't going to work." Zoro just shrugged. "Ok then." Mikita shrugged. "All right…" Then there was a long silence as the two tried to trick each other with the silent treatment and indifference. Zoro gave a mental smirk. His willpower was much stronger than Mikita's, and he could keep this going for years if he had to.

Mikita lightly glared, but she soon lowered her ears with her guilt. She took a breath nervously. "Zoro… I have to tell you something…" He looked back. "Yes?" Her eyes narrowed sadly and frightened as she looked at him. "It's about your swords. You see. They…"

"They're right here," Leona smiled as she carried them in. Mikita saw that all three were in her arms, including the Wadou, and this brought a smile to her face. "We had them cleaned up for you, so they're nice and ready to go." Leona sat the swords down by Zoro and smiled at Mikita before turning away to walk out of the room. Zoro blinked. "Umm... thanks..." Mikita smiled at him for a bit, but her smile turned to a frown as she felt the strange guilt still within her. "Zoro, I have to tell you the truth… You see, when I was trying to clean off the Wadou in the ocean, a shark came and kinda… ate it." She closed her eyes sadly. "That's what I was afraid to tell you." Leona paused and didn't proceed to exit the room. She was surprised to hear that Mikita had told him the truth after all when she could have gotten away with it.

There was a sudden glare from Zoro. This glare ate away at Mikita's conscience as her tail tucked underneath her legs in shame. Leona looked back at them and focused her saddened surprise at Mikita. Zoro looked down. "It's nothing that won't clear up in a few hours." Mikita looked at him questioningly, her stare still gloomy. "Zoro… I'm sorry." Leona looked at them. "At least we got it back. That's what is important." Zoro nodded. "That's why I said a couple of hours, instead of a couple of decades." Mikita nodded and walked out sadly, still feeling bad about what happened.

Leona sighed. "She's so much different now that she's met you Zoro. Normally, Mikita would have seized the opportunity to get away with it and not tell you about it at all. That shows how important you are to her." Leona looked down sadly. "It makes me wish I had what she has right now." Zoro looked at her. "Why can't you?" Leona simply turned away and walked out sadly. She didn't want to explain it to him. Zoro rolled his eyes. "God... does she have to be so picky?"

Mikita walked out on deck and went up to the crow's nest to give Zoro some space. She sat there alone with her thoughts. Leona stood out by the railing and looked out at the waters as she usually did when she had no other ideas for anything to do except to sift through her thoughts. Karasu smirked at Luffy. "Well I'm all better now. You wanna see who can dance better?" Luffy blinked. "Ok..." Karasu then began to dance as if to a fast tempo song. She was rather good at it too as she swung her hips around. Leona chuckled as she turned her attention to them. "This ought to be good." Mikita blinked and watched them from the crow's nest.

Luffy shrugged. "Gomu Gomu no booooh!" Everyone in the crew blinked in confusion, while Nami just slapped a hand to her forehead. Luffy got close to Karasu and had a bored expression on his face, and then reacting to Karasu's moves in perfect form, instinctively. Sanji and Zoro had their jaws nearly touching the floor while Usopp stared in confusion. "I thought Luffy was a crappy dancer... why is he suddenly amazing?" Karasu smiled and continued to dance.

Leoko smirked and walked over to them. "You two call that dancing? I'll show you dancing." He then began to bust a move and before long, he was break dancing on the deck. Karasu was clapping excitedly and a crowd encircled him. Karasu jumped around in thrill. "Fluffy wins! Fluffy wins!" Leoko stood back up and smirked. "Damn straight." Nami rolled her eyes and looked to her map. "So what?"

Leoko smirked at Nami and then looked at Karasu. "You're a mind reader, I know you know what I'm thinking…" Karasu nodded. "Yep…" Then in unison, they both exclaimed, "MOSH PIT!" They ran at each other and when they jumped up to hit each other's chests, Leoko's strength overpowered hers and sent her flying back and falling on her butt. She laughed and jumped up. "Let's do that again!" Leoko smirked wider as he got ready to run at her. Karasu braced herself this time. Mikita shook her head with a smile. "Nutheads." Zoro nodded. "Yep." Mikita heard him agree with her as she looked at him from the crow's nest. She gave a light smile, but she was still unsure of how he felt toward her for not telling him sooner. She lost the smile as she decided to just lie down.

Zoro smirked as he looked at her. He'd leave her wondering how he was feeling towards her for a while yet, even though he'd already forgiven her. That's about the time he got slapped in the back of the head by Karasu. "Bastard." Zoro blinked. "Hey, Luffy, did a mosquito just bite me or something?" Karasu just rolled her eyes and walked away, but not after flipping him off. Zoro simply ignored her. Leoko raised an eyebrow as he looked at his own folded, halfway up middle finger. He looked at it in confusion and looked up at Zoro, raising an eyebrow.

Zoro simply ignored it, secretly wondering whether or not Karasu could even stand to _be_ ignored. Karasu was ignoring him in return. She had no issues with being ignored, unlike Mikita. Leoko blinked. "Am I at fault with what this gesture means?" He asked this as he looked at his lifted middle finger. Zoro just ignored him as well. He looked at the Wadou Ichimounji in his belt. Leoko just shrugged and threw his boomerang around in boredom. Luffy paused, looking at Leoko for a moment. "Hey! Leoko! Want to see who can eat the fastest?" Karasu smirked at Luffy. "You're still sore because you lost that contest to me huh?" Leoko stood up. "I'm up for a competition." Karasu jumped up happily and hugged Leoko. "Yay! Thanks Fluffy! Now I have two competition buddies!" Leona smiled. "Well this will be interesting."

Zoro climbed up to the bird's nest, wondering if Mikita was still there. Mikita looked at him and smiled lightly. "Hey." Zoro climbed in next to her, and gently kissed her cheek. Mikita smiled at him. "Now you decide to kiss me?" Zoro smiled. "I forgive you now." Mikita nodded. "I realized why you waited to tell me that, and I suppose I deserved that." Zoro smiled. "I can't even stay annoyed at you for a long time anymore..." Mikita smiled back sweetly. "And I couldn't just go on without you knowing the truth. I actually had a… conscience, I think you call it." She shrugged. "It's not something I usually have." Zoro smiled. "I love you Mikita." He laid down next to her.

Mikita looked at him. "There's something you still haven't told me though…" He looked at her. "What?" She looked out at the waters. "You still haven't told me what you think about this whole… pregnancy thing… about the baby." Zoro smiled as he got up and stood next to her. "I know that I'll love our child Mikita. Just as I love you." Mikita nodded at him as she smiled. "It took you a month to get that out of your system. Finally!" She smirked and laid back. "Oh and I love you too and all that shizzy blah blah." He smirked as he laid back down.


	25. Chapter 25

Three months… and seven days later, the competitions that Karasu and Luffy held grew even more ridiculous… and scary. "Hey Luffy, I have a very important question to ask you…" She paused and then lifted up her shirt. "Am I getting bigger?" Leoko shielded his eyes as quickly as he could. "Must… resist… perverted impulse." Luffy poked her waist. "Yeah, you are getting fatter." Karasu smiled. "YAY! But I meant my boobs." She then jiggled them back and forth as she twisted her body from side to side. "Look! They move! I bet you can't do that!" Leoko now had a nosebleed. "Awww… Can't resist perverted impulse… even though I'm not even looking. Don't even have to see it. Hearing that is enough." Sanji came out. "Then come into the ki-" He broke off. "Karasu-chwan!"

Karasu turned to Sanji and blinked. "Oh hi Sanji! Do you think I'm getting bigger?" She was still holding up her shirt. Sanji made a hasty excuse about having to make lunch and ran into the kitchens for his own protection. Karasu started running after Sanji. "Wait! You didn't tell me-!" Leona stopped her and pulled her back before she finished her sentence. "Let it go Karasu. Just let it go." Karasu glared at her. "Well then you tell me! Am I getting bigger or not?" Leona blinked. "Well… a little. Not too much honestly, but a little." Karasu let her shirt fall back into place and glared again. "Oh yeah? Well at least I don't have such big boobs that I trip over them like you and 'Ribbon' over there!" There was no response and Karasu's statement was generally ignored.

"Ribbon over there is ignoring me. Well that's fine! She probably can't see me with those big ass boobs in the way!" Karasu yelled with a smirk. Leona just held back a chuckle as she walked away. Sanji walked out of the kitchen after awhile with lunch prepared. He had started to come out of the melancholy mood he'd been in, but he was still far from being the pervert they all knew. Leona still wasn't quite herself either, since she still couldn't release the grudge in her heart, along with the memories that were returned to her. She didn't want to lose them again. Though they brought back hurtful memories, they also helped her recall the good ones as well.

Karasu shrugged and walked over toward the bird's nest as she looked up at it. "BROTHER SQUISH! AM I GETTING BIGGER?" She raised her shirt up again. Zoro simply ignored Karasu. She just shrugged and let her shirt back down. "Fine! Be that way! You'd probably rather look at Luffy anyway you faggot!" Again, Zoro ignored the comment. Karasu smirked and continued to yell out insults toward him that weren't even true. "Yeah! I saw how you were all over him last night, because of that sex deprivation and all! DEPRESSING!" Zoro just rolled his eyes. Luffy blinked. "Huh? Zoro wasn't all over me. He was sleeping next to Mikita."

Mikita heard her name and woke up. She had grown much rounder in those months passing and she was now four months along. "Huh? What's going on?" Karasu looked at Luffy. "You're right. It wasn't you. It was…" She then paused as she smirked. "Be right back." She walked into the kitchens and went up to Sanji. "Hey Sanji. I didn't know you were gay." Sanji looked at her. "I'm not Karasu-chwan." Karasu paused for a moment. "Oh sorry. What's it like to be bi?" Sanji sighed. "I'm perfectly straight Karasu-chwan." Karasu looked at him in a sort of surprise. "Oh. Well I didn't know, especially with the things that Zoro's been saying about you two and all…"

Unfortunately for Karasu, her last comment was drowned out by a loud clanging noise as a pot boiled over and its' lid fell off. Sanji quickly ran to the pot and started stirring it, then put the lid back on. Karasu stood there and tapped her foot, waiting on him to get done. Sanji turned around. "Now, what were you saying Karasu-chwan?" Karasu smirked and proceeded to tell him the lies.

After a few minutes, she walked out on the deck with a sneaky smile on her face. Leoko looked at her curiously. "What did you do?" Karasu smirked at him as she sat down and leaned back. "Just sit back and watch the entertainment." Before long, Sanji burst out of the kitchens as he ran toward the crow's nest yelling, "YOU SAID WHAT?" Zoro looked over the side of the bird's nest. "Whatever she told you is obviously a lie. You should realize that by now Ero-cook." Sanji paused in thought. "Fine then Marimo! But if I actually hear you saying that kind of stuff then you're dead!" He walked back into the kitchen. Zoro rolled his eyes. "Uh huh. Sure." Mikita chuckled. "I wonder where he would have gotten that idea from?" She smirked as her tone of voice carried on sarcasm. Zoro rolled his eyes. "That's why I'm ignoring her."

Karasu followed Sanji back into the kitchens. "Sanji, you shouldn't let cancer face lie to you like that. He-" There was a crashing noise as several pots and pans fell out of a nearby cupboard and hit the floor. Sanji hurried to pick them up. "Sorry Karasu-chwan! Keep talking!" Karasu sighed. "Anyway, I was trying to tell you that he-" There was another crashing noise as more pots fell and Sanji ran over to pick those up. Karasu groaned in aggravation as she glared at him and the falling pots. Sanji got back up. "So, Karasu-chwan. What were you just saying?" Karasu opened her mouth to say one thing, but ended up saying something different. "You know what? Never mind. Just forget it." She turned and walked out of the kitchens.

Mikita sat up in the crow's nest as she looked out at the waters. She had a neutral expression as she watched the waves go by, followed by Leoko's boomerang as he slung it around boredly. Sanji blinked and then went back to cooking. Robin gave a mischievous smirk as she saw Karasu leave and the hands that had appeared in the cupboard vanished. Karasu glared back out of the corner of her eye. _Ribbon…_ Leona held back a laugh as she saw Karasu's aggravated expression. Zoro took in some enjoyment in it himself.

Karasu grumbled and went over to Leoko. "I'm bored…" Her expression then turned to its usual cheery smile. "Can I rub your abs?" Leoko blinked at her, but then shrugged. "Sure. Knock yourself out." Karasu raised an eyebrow. "You know I'm too hard-headed to be knocked out right?" Leoko chuckled. "You know what I mean." Karasu smiled wide as she tackled him on the deck and ripped his shirt off, clawing at his abs gently with a smile. Leoko blinked and his face was slightly red. "Whoa! Whoa! This does not look right. Karasu…" Karasu was too hypnotized by the clawing. She soon fell over twitching on top of him as her narcolepsy kicked in. Leoko's face went even redder, but then there was a sly grin on his face as he was about to slip an arm around her.

Usopp walked over. "Sorry. She gets like this." He then pulled her off of Leoko. Leoko stared. "I know that all too well. But hey, I didn't have any objections to it…" Leona smirked at him. "You're such a pervert at times." Leoko smirked back at her. "Damn straight." Usopp set Karasu down and walked off whistling to himself. Leoko watched him walk off and blinked. "Apparently he gets those thoughts too." Leona smirked at him. "Or maybe he was just whistling. Not all men are as perverted all the time… or at least they don't let it show." Leoko smirked back. "Hey. Don't be dissing us perverts now."

Zoro rolled his eyes. "It was a mistake to wake up." Mikita smirked. "I'll agree with you there… not that you have any room to talk. You're just as perverted as he is, if not more." He raised an eyebrow. "How so?" Mikita looked at him with a light, charming smirk. He blinked. "What?" Mikita just smiled as she rolled her eyes and looked aside, as if it were obvious to what she was meaning. Maybe not to him, but oh well. Zoro shrugged and got up. "I guess I'll train for a bit." Mikita nodded. "All right. I wish I could… Oh well, I'll get to eventually." She looked down at her stomach in disappointment and sighed.

Nightfall arrived and Mikita was looking out at the waters below. Zoro was asleep up in the crow's nest and she had snuck away quietly to go down on deck. Leona walked out and saw her standing there. "Hey. What are you doing up?" Mikita looked at her. "Can't sleep." Leona nodded. "Me either. Too much on my mind." Mikita sighed. "Same here." Leona looked at Mikita's little bulge of a round belly and smiled. "You're getting a little bigger I see." Mikita growled lightly. "Yeah and I hate it." Leona chuckled. "It's okay. You won't be fat forever you know." Mikita lightly smiled. "I know. Still, I wish it never would have happened though…" Leona looked at her curiously. "Really?"

"Yeah. I mean… I don't want to be a mother… I'm just not ready and it's just not me, you know?" Mikita tapped her claws against the railing as if to fiddle around in aggravation. "Plus I know that my father's out there and scheming up some kind of chaos. I haven't been able to do any kind of training lately and it's annoying the hell outta me." Leona tilted her head curiously. "If you don't mind me asking, why did you rush such affections anyway if it's not what you wanted?" Mikita looked at her with a crafty smirk. "Power. What else?" Leona looked at her with a look of half surprise at her answer.

"Of course that's only how it was at first. I never thought I'd be the one to actually be in love with a man, but… here it all happened and I'm stuck with all of this shizzy." Leona gazed at her inquisitively. "Do you ever regret it?" Mikita looked out at the oceans with a neutral gaze, not answering for a bit. She eventually nodded. "Yes. Sometimes… but I wouldn't change what I have with him. Now I see why humans thrive on such a relationship. It's… fulfilling. Delightful, but it's not the only thing in a relationship." She looked at Leona. "For me, it was a test of my boundaries of trust. For him to get so close to me and have such a bond with me is just so… different from what I've always thought of myself."

Leona looked down at the ship's floor. "At least you two have that special bond. I don't suppose I ever will." She looked into her sister's eyes. "Mikita, you're so lucky to have what you have with Zoro. That means that a puzzle piece of my dream has been put together…" She paused and looked aside sadly. "Although the main piece of the puzzle is lost in another unknown world, never to be reached." Mikita looked at Leona with sympathy, but then she looked away. "Well you're lucky Leona. You don't have to worry about the risks of getting pregnant."

"But the thing is… I want to have a child. A baby that has a part of me… and a part of the one of which I am the number one." Leona looked up at the stars as they twinkled a reflection in her eyes. "I've always wanted such a thing, but that is impossible. That part of my dream will never come true." Mikita rolled her eyes. "Anyone could get pregnant. I don't see why they'd want to, but they could. I know that for a fact obviously."

Leona shook her head. "Not me." Mikita looked at her questioningly. Leona linked her hands together and sighed. "I can't get pregnant." Mikita seemed a bit surprised at this. "You can't? Well how come you never told me?" Leona still looked down at her hands. "I don't know. I guess I didn't really think you'd care… or I thought you'd just laugh at me or something." Mikita chuckled. "I probably would have… but now I have no room to be laughing. I mean, look at where this love shizzy got me. Jee, I wish I couldn't get pregnant." Leona smiled at her. "But you're lucky Mikita. When you look into that baby's eyes, you'll realize what love really is." She appeared a bit saddened again. "At least, that's what I've always heard…"

Mikita looked down at her stomach in thought before she looked over at Leona once more. "I'm sorry Leona. I didn't know. Now I see why you were so happy to announce it to everyone, when we got together, and even about the pregnancy." Leona grinned lightly as she stood up and hugged Mikita carefully. "It's okay." She then looked at her. "You don't have to regret anything Mikita. You have a good life and I'm proud of you." Mikita just avoided eye contact and nodded. Leona smiled lightly and walked toward the cabin, but she stopped and looked back at Mikita. "Well I'm going to go try and get some rest now. You probably should too Miki."

As Leona went inside, Mikita sighed and looked back out at the waters. _Maybe this will be a good thing after all. Just maybe… _She looked up at the crow's nest where Zoro was as she smiled, one hand on her stomach. She then looked down at her belly and stroked it gently. "Perhaps I should get some sleep…" As she started to walk off, she felt a strange feeling in her and she flinched, holding onto her stomach with both arms. It was pain, pain in her stomach. Her instincts told her that she wanted to be somewhere secluded and alone.

Mikita went down below deck, holding her stomach and making sounds of discomfort. It was a wonder that she had gotten down there before collapsing into a sitting position. She began to breathe rapidly as she doubled over while sitting there. She tightly shut her eyes and clenched her teeth, moaning in pain. She shouted out loudly, and that shout morphed into a hurtful howl as it sounded all around the ship. The howl knocked Zoro right out of his sleep. He leapt up to his feet and hurled himself over the edge of the nest. "Mikita?" The others were coming out now too. Zoro looked around frantically. "MIKITA?"

The howl faded out and faint whimpers were all that were heard now. Karasu went over to Zoro. "She's below deck! It's too soon! Something happened! I can hear it in her thoughts!" Leona looked at them. "I can hear her whimpering. She's in pain…" Zoro took off towards the door that led below deck, dragging a very unhappy reindeer doctor by the antler with him.

The whimpering ended and there was a sudden silence. It was dark down there where Mikita was. There was a small hint of light and there she was, barely visible. A dark puddle surrounded her and her back was turned from them. She was looking at something in front of her that was no larger than both of her fists combined. Her body was lightly shaking, as could be seen from behind. Zoro dropped Chopper and stepped towards her tentatively. "Mikita...?" She didn't respond or turn around as she kept her sight focused on the form in front of her. She reached a shaky hand out toward it, but she stopped and pulled her hand back to her chest. On her face was a neutral, yet deeply horrified expression.

Zoro stepped forwards again. "Mikita? What's wro-" His words stopped right there and his hand went up to his mouth. Chopper ran forward and had a similar reaction, only his actually involved vomiting. Leona walked over and saw this as she gasped and looked upon this with her hand over her mouth in shock and sadness. There in front of Mikita lay the miscarried baby covered in blood of the surrounding puddle. It hadn't even had time to completely develop yet, for it lacked certain features. "Miki…" Leona finally made herself brave enough to approach Mikita. "Come on. It's going to be okay." Leona helped the terrified, shocked Mikita to her feet as she walked her toward the door. "We're going to get you cleaned off. It'll be all right." Mikita still had that same horrified, yet neutral expression since she was in shock and fear about what had just happened. Leona helped her walk up toward the deck. Zoro was right with her and helping her. There was utmost silence.

They were docked on an island at this time, so they were able to take Mikita out to the river to bathe and clean off. Leona helped her undress and get into the water. "I'll go get you some clean clothes Miki. Zoro will be right here with you. I'll be back as soon as I can." Leona took Mikita's bloody clothes and walked back toward the ship. Mikita sat in the water, ignoring the chilly temperature of it entirely, as she stared ahead of her silently. Her facial expression hadn't changed all that much. Zoro looked at her. "Are you alright?" Mikita slowly nodded with the same expression. Zoro stepped up to her and hugged her tightly. "It's alright Mikita... it's alright..."

Mikita was still silent and she couldn't lift her arms to hug him back, so she leaned against him. "I'm sorry," she said in a whisper. He murmured back to her. "It's not your fault. Don't worry about it. What's done is done." His words didn't seem to betray the terrible grief ripping at his own heart. Mikita was curious of his tone of voice, but her thoughts and focus were interrupted with more pain as she groaned and clenched her teeth. She closed her eyes tightly and tried to bear it. Zoro then gently kissed her on the lips. "It's going to be fine Mikita."

She hugged him back as she leaned her head on his shoulder, but the pain returned to her again and she accidentally squished him tighter in the embrace due to her pain. "It won't stop… hurting," she whispered before she held her breath due to the intense aches in her stomach. Zoro nodded. "I'm sure it's going to hurt for a while yet. But it'll go away eventually." Mikita began to whimper, but then she lightly growled at herself. Zoro looked into her eyes. "Mikita..."

She stopped growling and looked into his eyes questioningly. He now at least knew he had her attention. "It's going to be fine. If we let this overcome us, it will give an opening for your father." Another painful ache throbbed in her stomach as she looked down at it and growled. Her growl turned to a sorrowful stare as her eyes narrowed. Something was bothering her more inside, more than just physical pain.

Leona walked into the cabin and Karasu ran up to her. "Leona! You won't believe the weirdness going on right now. The baby and the blood… it's all gone!" Leona looked at her strangely, and then proceeded to go see it herself. Sure enough, it was gone. "Who cleaned it all up so fast?" Karasu looked at her. "I don't know, but it wasn't anyone on the ship…" Leona looked down at the ground in confusion and thought, but this was soon interrupted by the sound of Mikita's mournful howl.

Mikita was howling up at the moon in her sorrow, but it soon trailed off as her vision blurred and she nearly lost consciousness against Zoro. He winced. "Ah, Mikita do you have to do that when you're right next to me?" He looked down at her and gently lifted her up to carry her back to the ship. Mikita was only on the borderline of consciousness as she wearily opened her eyes to look at him. "Yes... I had to. It's instinct… a wolf's loss… and the mistake carries on," she replied lightly as she flinched again with the aches. Leona ran over to them and threw a blanket over Mikita as she remained in Zoro's arms. Leona looked down at the ground in surprise to see that Mikita was still losing blood. _That's not normal. It should have stopped by now… _

Zoro gently stroked Mikita's hair and kissed her one more time. He nodded at Leona entrusting Mikita to her and Chopper. Leona laid Mikita down in the bed with several towels to absorb any escaping blood remaining. Mikita curled over on her side and growled as Leona looked at her curiously. "Why are you still losing blood and hurting so much? It isn't supposed to be this bad." Mikita looked at her. "It's the pain of my many mistakes. It will not cease until the length of time it is meant for is ended." This only served to confuse Leona even more.

Zoro sat in the birds nest, staring up at the stars. Leoko looked up at him. "Whatcha doin'?" Zoro shrugged. "Thinking." Leoko nodded. "Ah." He looked out at the island, not bothering to ask another question. It was a dull night. Nobody was talking very much. Leona walked out of the cabin and she seemed to be thinking a lot as well. Sanji walked up to her. "This has turned out to be one shitty night." Leona nodded. "Yes it has. Poor Miki. She whined for a long time before she could tolerate the pain enough to finally fall asleep." Leona seemed to be able to stand having normal conversations with Sanji now. Though she still hadn't let it go from her heart, she was too worried for her sister.

Sanji looked downcast. "Why did this happen?" Leona looked down as well. "I don't know. There are just too many peculiar things about this. It's just not as normal." Sanji sighed, tossing a cigarette into the sea. "I don't know about this kind of thing. So I can't help anymore than simply praying."

Occasional whines were heard from where Mikita was trying to rest. She was still curled up and hugging her knees as she whimpered. Sanji looked at Leona sadly. "I'll see you in the morning, Leona-swan." Leona nodded as she looked downward to the side. Karasu walked out of the cabin with a sad appearance. Leona noticed this and asked, "What is it? I know that you know what's wrong with Mikita." Karasu nodded. "I do know… but I can't tell you. At least not yet." Leona sighed. "Why not?" Karasu looked at her. "Because Mikita needs to be able to explain the situation herself, especially to Zoro since he's all stressed about it." She looked up at him as she referred to him.

Zoro had fallen into a restless sleep. Mikita on the other hand could not sleep. She was too aggravated with her mistakes and her pain. She forced herself to stand up and walk off of the ship. She was gritting her teeth the entire time with the pain, but she walked onto the island and into the forest. Once she reached a certain point and couldn't walk any farther, she yelled up at the sky. "Why did you do this to me? Show yourself Kachi! You good for nothing show offy goddess!" She winced again with another throbbing ache as she doubled over.

"If you keep blaspheming me, your suffering will cease to relent," a female voice replied to Mikita. Before her stood the form of a silver haired woman with the appearance of a motherly and holy nature. Mikita growled at her. "I will never forgive you for this Kachi." The woman referred to as Kachi simply stared solemnly at her. "You will learn your lesson pup," she replied.

"I AM NOT A DAMNED PUP!" Mikita snapped. Kachi still remained calm. "One day, you will see why I have done this Miki. I had no intention to hurt you. You have brought this upon yourself." Mikita snarled and bore her fangs at her. Kachi simply nodded. "I must leave you for now to think on your troubles. You will realize my duties one day pup." With that said, Kachi disappeared in a flash of light. Mikita's fangs lengthened. "I AM NOT A PUP DAMN IT!" She then made a sound of pain and discomfort as she doubled over and sat down on the ground.

Zoro heard Mikita and woke up, jumping down and going over to her. "Mikita?" Mikita was angered and she accidentally replied rudely. "What?" She was glaring at the ground as she said it. Zoro was a bit taken aback by her response. He then sighed and took a step towards her. Mikita gritted her teeth with the pain and before she knew it, she was throwing up. If the pain is severe enough and it prolongs, it can sometimes prompt this to happen. She coughed and spit out what was in her mouth, and then she growled as she dug her claws into the ground. "This is all my fault…" Zoro shook his head. "No it isn't Mikita..."

Mikita looked up at him with her jaw and body shaking as it usually did at these times. "Yes… it is." She was still hurting, so she lay down and curled up right there on the ground as she looked ahead of her. "You see… a few years ago, long before I knew you, I was on this murder spree…"

Flashback: Blood of many villagers in agony were shed as they shouted out in pain. Mikita mostly preferred to slit their throats and watch them suffer. She also committed other tortures such as ripping out their tongues or killing them with the curse of the worst migraine imaginable. "That will teach you to attack me when I'm hungry you fools." She then took the sack of food and ran off with it.

She looked back and smirked at the dying villagers and the burning homes, but then she smacked right into a barrier as she fell back and dropped the sack. "What the hell?" She heard something behind her, and as she turned around, she was pinned down to the ground by a large white paw. "Mikita Shikaku. I have once again to deal with your wrongdoings. I had a feeling that you were the one behind all of this." Mikita smirked. "When I'm hungry and bored, the world has to watch out you know?" She was looking up at a large dog-like creature with dragon wings and a horn on her forehead.

"Do not think that you are getting away with this Mikita. I am Kachi Hakubi, the dog goddess of heaven and earth. I will not allow you to kill innocents like this." The goddess let Mikita up and Mikita rose to her feet, dusting herself off. "Yeah. Yeah. Whatever." Kachi was in her truest dog goddess form at the time as she looked down at Mikita and bore her fangs. "You shouldn't be so careless Mikita, for I know your future." Mikita shrugged. "So does Leona, but do I give a shit?"

Kachi growled. "Fine. For what you've done, I curse your firstborn child. It will live no longer than six-score days once it is begun." Mikita scoffed and snickered carelessly. "Pssh! Whatever. It won't matter to me because I'm never having children, let alone getting with a man. Your curse means absolutely nothing to me." Kachi shrugged. "All right then, but I must warn you: For each innocent that dies by your claws from this point on, the longer your suffering will be prolonged. I tried to convince you Miki… and for this I am sorry pup." Mikita turned away and laughed. "Funny. You act as if I should care. And if you ever call me 'pup' again, that will only darken my hatred of you." As Mikita disappeared, a tear rolled down Kachi's face as she took off in flight.

Back from the flashback: Mikita was lying there on the ground as she glared angrily and sadly. "I've always laughed at the ones that told me such things… about me having a mate and a child, but now I see my mistakes…" She paused to flinch with her pain, "I will never forgive her for this… nor will I forgive myself." Zoro clenched his teeth. "Then I swear I'll do to that bitch what she's done to you."

Mikita didn't reply as she winced in her pain, her eyes tapered with her sadness. She whimpered a bit as she stood up and began to walk back to the Merry. She approached Zoro by his side and took hold of his hand, though she didn't look into his eyes. "Stay with me… Forgive me…" She kept her face covered with her hair. He nodded. "Of course I will." He smirked. "Besides, you said it'll worsen each time _you_ take an innocent life, but I'm free of that."

Mikita didn't say anything in return to that comment as she kept hold of his hand as she walked on, still not showing him her face. She was too ashamed of her wrongs to let anyone see her. Zoro looked at her. "You look like you're in thought. It's not normal for you to be this quiet." Still there was no answer from her as she walked onto the ship with him. She finally turned to face him and looked up at him, soon enclosing him in a tight hug. "Have I let you down Zoro? I never meant to. I didn't know you then…" Zoro shook his head. "No." She parted from the embrace and looked up at him. "Several sleepless nights will result from this, but I deserved it." She sighed and held her stomach as she walked on toward the crow's nest. "Let's go."

Zoro climbed up to the crow's nest. "I love you Mikita." She made a tiny smile as she cuddled up beside him, her back against his warm stomach. She seemed to try and let out a soft purr as she replied, "I love you too Zoro." She shut her eyes tightly with more pain, so she didn't purr for very long. Zoro slipped his arms gently around her to do his best to help her through the pain.

For a few hours, Mikita remained lying there with him, though she held back the whimpers due to her throbbing aches and pains. They were dulling for her just a little, but she still had many troubles with them. They kept her awake and her eyes were very droopy. Each time she felt a more severe ache, she would dig her claws into the crow's nest, gripping it tightly. Her breathing pattern was also thrown off, as it was different and noticeable. Zoro hadn't fallen asleep yet. His main concern was to help Mikita through this. Mikita yawned so hard that her eyes watered up. She was so sleepy, but she knew that she wouldn't be getting any sleep with the pain she was putting up with, although she was slowly tolerating it a bit better. Feeling Zoro there with her made her feel more comfortable and content.

Zoro looked at her. "I'll stay up all night if I have to." Mikita managed to lightly smile. "No. You don't have to. I'm kind of getting used to it…" She winced again right after she said that. "You need to sleep. Don't worry too much about me." She took in a quick breath and paused with it for a moment before she let it out and clamped her teeth together. All the hurting was making her mad. He smirked. "Don't worry about you? I'll stop worrying about you on the day you kiss your father on the lips."

This statement confused her as she smirked, holding back a laugh that she wouldn't have been able to force out anyway. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Zoro smirked. "You're denser than Luffy." Mikita smirked. "Sometimes." She yawned again and tried to ignore the pain. She seemed to be doing a better job at ignoring it while staying in conversation with Zoro. "So… what would you have felt if the child had been born at the right time?" Zoro smiled. "Probably what's normal for a parent." Mikita sighed. "I know that I wasn't prepared for such a responsibility. I should have been smarter that day, but I was just like all the other foolish females that couldn't say 'no'." She then smiled. "At least I will have better judgment from now on. Plus, I'll be able to train again sooner than I had first expected." She felt more pain as she winced. "Although it may take me a while to get over this damned curse."

Zoro smirked. "Don't worry, we'll wreak our own fair share of revenge on the one who did this to you." Mikita nodded. "Indeed." She was now getting rather sleepy and despite the pains, she was slowly drifting into sleep. Zoro smiled and started to fall asleep himself.

_Kachi Hakubi © to kachihakubicreator1000. I have a lot of buddies in the story. lol _


	26. Chapter 26

Over the next few days, the curse on Mikita carried on and continued to hurt her. She gradually tolerated the pain and it dulled as well, making her less grouchy and snappy. She also seemed glad to be back to her normal slender size once more as she smirked. "Now I can get back to training." Leona looked at her. "You should still take it easy for a bit longer Miki. Your insides have to have time to heal well. You lost a lot of blood and-"

"Yeah. Yeah. So what? It's been six days. I'm fine now. Of course it still hurts a little but hey, I'm getting used to this shit," Mikita interrupted as she shrugged. Zoro had been using every opportunity he'd gotten to help Mikita. Also, he'd been tending to directly show how pissed he was with any gods. An example had been in the last town they'd visited where Zoro had personally taken the time to dice various priests and monks into tiny bits, and also took a lot of pleasure in desecrating the churches. This made her wonder if his grudge was for some reason deeper than hers. She accepted her reason for receiving the curse, yet she never forgave herself or the dog goddess. She didn't take it out on anyone since she had been resting and recovering.

Luffy was doing something very peculiar... for him at least. He'd accepted an offer made by Zoro to spar. Right now the Merry was rocking very uneasily as Zoro and Luffy traded blows. Karasu was standing nearby and cheering. "GO LUFFY! WOO!" Leona was also watching curiously.

Mikita on the other hand, she was outside on the deck talking to Leoko. "You seem to be glad to be back to your normal size eh?" Mikita nodded. "Yes I am. I'm actually kind of glad that I don't have to put up with a whiny child too." Leoko nodded. "No doubt there. That would probably be too difficult for someone like you to handle anyway." Mikita glared at him. "Are you going somewhere with this?" Leoko shrugged. "You just seem too evil to raise a child. That's all, but feel free to let it go wherever you want it to go." Mikita rolled her eyes. "Whatever. You're probably right anyway, so I'm not even going to bother."

Zoro's fist collided with Luffy's gut, which, naturally, absorbed the attack. "Gomu Gomu no Gatling Gun!" Zoro was then struck by hundreds of punches, and hurled back. He grabbed a very heavy, jagged boulder and hurled it at Luffy, who was hit and his arm started bleeding quite badly. Mikita saw this and she watched in amusement. "Zoro has been so violent lately. He seems to be taking this curse shizzy harder than me." Leoko watched as well. "It would seem so." Karasu gasped when Luffy was hit with the rock. She jumped up and accidentally uppercut Leona's jaw with her fist as she yelled, "COME ON LUFFY! GET HIM!" Luffy's arm snapped back. "Gomu Gomu no... Pistol!" His arm went flying forward, but Zoro sidestepped, grabbing his arm and yanking Luffy towards him and then struck his head with and elbow strike.

Of course, Luffy's head went flying back, though it did _some_ damage. "Gomu Gomu no Bell!" His head went flying back and struck Zoro on the forehead, causing him to stagger. "YAY LUFFY!" Karasu cheered. Leona stood back up after being punched by Karasu, only to get hit again. Mikita just shook her head in disbelief and went to do sit-ups. "Now I have to get my stomach back in shape." She sighed and began as she counted. "One… two… three…" Leoko watched Mikita and thought for a moment. "I need to do some training as well." He started doing pushups. "One… two… three…"

Zoro lifted up a second boulder and smashed it down on Luffy. Luffy then broke the boulder. "Gomu Gomu no Ono!" His leg shot up in high in the air and then came down. Zoro dodged and got Luffy into a headlock, then started slamming his head against a tree. Leoko paused from his pushups and looked at them. "Going a bit overboard isn't he?" Mikita paused as well. "A little…" She shrugged and continued. "Twenty five… twenty six…" Karasu always had a habit of imitating certain battles that she was watching. She had Leona in the headlock as she slammed her head against the floor of the ship. "COME ON LUFFY! DON'T LET HIM BEAT YOU!" Leona was getting quite dizzy and irritated, with a headache.

Zoro then did something rather unfair, but decisive. He threw Luffy into the shallows. Karasu imitated the move as she threw Leona in after him. "SWIM LUFFY! SWIM!" Leona splashed in right on top of Luffy and submerged him underwater. Mikita sighed and continued her sit-ups. "Fifty two… fifty three…" Each sit-up was causing her more pain, but she wasn't going to let that stop her.

Zoro rolled his eyes and walked off. "Victory." Leona came out of the water with Luffy, having rescued him. "Zoro, what is up with you lately?" Once she got Luffy back up on deck, Karasu started slapping, punching, and scratching him. "You loser! You let him win!" Leona just sighed. "Karasu…"

Mikita was still doing her sit-ups, but the pain was irritating her and getting worse, so she stopped and sat up, stretching out her back muscles and lessening the tension. She saw Zoro walking off and curiosity got the best of her as she followed him. "Zoro…?" Zoro looked at her. "Sorry. I've been having to get out a lot of pent up anger lately." Mikita nodded and took hold of his hand as she walked alongside him. "I understand. It's just that… well, you've been taking this harder than I have." Zoro raised an eyebrow. "I didn't do much grieving the first night, while trying to help you. I'm now taking my frustration and grief out in smaller portions with my fists and swords."

This made her look at him curiously. "Grief? You don't feel guilty about this do you?" Zoro looked at her. "A little, but our child still died, regardless of whose fault it was." Mikita shook her head. "It was my fault entirely. I'll admit it now…" Zoro shook his head. "Don't waste your breath. I'll feel some guilt for what happened, no matter what you say." To her, this seemed like an oddly stated response from him, but she didn't think much of it. She decided to mess with him and insult him as part of her routine. "Yeah you're probably right. It was somewhat your fault. You're the male of the relationship, the perverted retard at that." She smirked.

He rolled his eyes. "I've learned not to respond to those." Mikita's eyes narrowed a bit sadly. "Aww… but that just takes all the fun out of it. Besides, you just responded, did you not?" She smiled sneakily and held onto his hand a bit tighter as if not to lose grip. Zoro smiled. "Alright then. I've learned not to get irritated by it." Mikita smirked. "Why would it irritate you, unless you feel that you've lost touch?" Zoro just smiled. "Should we head back?" Mikita nodded with a smile. "Sure." He started to lead her back to the ship.

When they arrived at the ship, Mikita looked at him and smiled. "So, is it up to relax in the crow's nest together as always?" Zoro looked at her. "Hmm? Not right now Mikita. I have some training I need to get done, alright?" She seemed to understand as she nodded with a light smile. "All right. No problem." Zoro walked off to start training with his weighted training pole.

"Not feeling as cuddly eh?" Leoko asked as he observed Mikita's confusion. Mikita turned and looked at him. "I guess not. Oh well, he's mad. I understand." She smirked. "I need to do some training as well. What do you say to another spar?" Leoko laid back and said, "Hmm, I don't know… I don't need Zoro getting angry at me for KICKING YOUR BUTT!" He smirked slyly. Mikita raised an eyebrow and turned away. "Fine then. If you're too chicken…" She had a smirk on her face that he couldn't see. Leoko stared. "Are you saying that I'm too scared to fight you?" Mikita looked back at him. "Maybe I am, maybe I'm not."

He laughed lightly. "You've used that line on me before. It won't work this time." He stood up and made two ice shields on his hands. "You ready?" Mikita drew her Dragon Tail as she made the blade flame up. "When you are." She then paused and smirked as she recalled something. "Oh but you won't hit a woman first because you're a wussy," she teased as she sent a blast of fire energy at him. Leoko sighed and sidestepped the energy, not drawing his sword, and melted his ice shields. "No I'm not a wuss. If I was, I would be fighting you now." He fired a simple barrage of ice spikes and used the water to hold her in place so that she wouldn't be able to dodge.

One of the spikes hit the edge of her arm and she growled. Her fiery aura flew out around her and blasted the rest of them back, dispelling the water trick that held her in place. She smiled craftily at him. "I see. In that case…" She swirled her hand around and controlled her powers, which enclosed him in a fiery prison. Leoko began to sweat. He never did sweat, which meant his powers were weakening. "That's not very fair," he smirked as he froze the fire making it power him. He then encased Mikita in ice. "How do you like it?"

Mikita gritted her teeth and broke out of it as her body flared up. "You do that to me quite a lot." She grinned with a sneaky idea and started flicking little fire blades at his feet. "Dance Leoko. Dance." She always enjoyed playing around with her opponents in battle if she could tolerate them. She didn't take the spars quite as seriously. Leoko shrugged and walked through the flames. He then smirked and started to tickle Mikita. Obviously he wasn't being very serious either. Mikita laughed a bit before she growled and pinned him, due to the fact that tickling made her mad. She growled at him as they were close, face-to-face, but then she smirked and licked his cheek with a big slobbery lick. Leoko smirked and ignored it. "Aww, I'm touched that you would… slobber me so." He continued to tickle her, making ice hold her claws down.

Her claws were cursed with the tainted blood and they broke through the ice. She smirked and stabbed a red dagger into his side, which burned upon contact and entrance through the skin. "Distraction." Leoko winced and pulled the dagger out of him. "Ouch. Jeez." He stabbed the dagger into her shoulder blade. Mikita just smirked. She had grown better with pain tolerance, plus it was fire based so it didn't harm her all that much. She raised an eyebrow and karate chopped his clavicle, breaking the fragile bone. "Now you can't use your sword arm."

Leoko just shrugged. "I can fight with both arms, but can you fight with just your legs?" He broke both of her clavicles to copy her and stood up. Mikita blinked at him and lifted her hands up to her broken shoulder bones without bending them and she healed her bones back together. "I could, but it doesn't mean that I'm going to." She smirked. Leoko returned the sly grin. "Oh right. I forgot that you could heal." He looked at his broken arm and sighed. He kicked his sword off of the ground and caught it in his other hand. "Very well. If I must, then I will." He then suddenly began to glow light blue. He jumped up and dashed at Mikita, jabbing at her with his sword. Mikita countered the attack by angling her arm just right to block so that she wouldn't get cut. She knocked the blade aside and punched at his other clavicle, smirking as it also snapped. "Let's see you fight with just _your_ legs then, if you think it would be so easy."

Leoko looked at his arms. "This is so not fair at all. Now I'm going to have to kick my sword at you." He then quickly did just that and the sword barely missed her leg. Leoko looked out at the far ocean seeing a disturbance, as he looked far off. _No that can't be… nah. _He focused on Mikita once more and kicked ice balls at her. Mikita noticed his distracted appearance and this was enough to get her distracted as well. One of the ice balls hit her in the forehead. "Ow!" She exclaimed as she held her forehead. She then looked at him curiously. "What is it?" She couldn't help but wonder.

Leoko just looked at Mikita. "It's nothing. I just thought… never mind. Let's just get back to our duel now." He looked over at Sanji. "Don't hate me for using my feet." He jumped up and started kicking rapidly at Mikita. Her eyes widened as she backed up a bit to avoid the attacks. "Whoa!" She chuckled a little and whipped her Dragon Tail around his legs to make him fall. Leoko let himself fall as he landed on his hands, wincing with the pain. He then dropkicked Mikita.

He was successful with the kick as she went flying up into the air. This hurt her a little, but she didn't show it. She did a back flip in the air and landed on her feet. In the blink of an eye, she ran over to him and slammed him into a pin on the ground. She raised her hands into the air as if she were going to hit him, but she carefully laid them down on his shoulders and healed his clavicles back into place. "Draw. My stomach hurts again, and I don't want Leona bitching at me to stop because of it."

Leona heard her as she yelled back from the cabin, "I HEARD THAT!" Mikita smirked and got off of him. "Good spar as always. You're a good challenge Leo." Leoko smiled and looked out toward the sea where he noticed the distraction. "Yeah… thanks." Mikita looked out at the spot that he was looking out at and then looked out at the forest, wondering about Zoro.

He was still doing the same weighted pole training he had been doing before. "Fifty nine... Sixty..." Mikita decided to surprise him from behind as she glomped him and hugged him. "Hey. Still working out I see." Zoro nodded, setting down his weights. "Yeah..." He briefly hugged her back and then let go. "How are you feeling?" Mikita smiled lightly. "All right I suppose." She felt of his arms. "Ooh look at that there. You sure have been working those muscles." Zoro smirked. "Of course." He started heading back.

"Wait…" Mikita said as she stared at him. "Why are you leaving me so fast?" She walked over to him and smiled, hugging him tenderly. "You don't have to go just yet." He smiled. "I know. But Ero-cook will be serving our meals soon, so if we don't hurry, Karasu and Luffy will eat everything." Mikita smirked at him. "So what? I'll just tell him to make more and share it with you." She leaned in and kissed him sweetly. Zoro smiled and gently kissed her back. "I wouldn't want you to go to the effort." Mikita smirked and fiddled with his shirt. "What effort?" Her eyes never left his. Zoro sighed and hugged her. "Well, it's still a bit of a walk back don't you think? All things considering..." Mikita shrugged. "I know how to get back there. I can smell you know?" She snuck her hands around his back and underneath his shirt to his bare back as she nuzzled him.

Zoro sighed. "Alright then..." He slipped his arms around Mikita. She purred as she locked lips with him, moving her hands along his back and sliding them down slowly. Zoro gave a silent sigh, and then deepened the kiss. Mikita snuck her tongue into his mouth as she purred, moving her hands along his back still yet. Not too long after, Zoro looked at Mikita. "Think we should get going then?" Mikita sighed. "Sure, if you're _that_ worried about getting your meal and 'putting me through the effort'."

Once they returned to the ship, Mikita walked over toward the cabin and saw that Sanji was passing out the meals. Zoro smirked. "Just in time." Karasu and Luffy were already in an eating competition. Plus, Leoko had joined them and they were all three scrambling to eat the fastest. Zoro gave Mikita a smirk. "See. Told you we shouldn't have taken so long." Mikita shrugged. "We only took five minutes…" She just decided to let it go and get her food as she went to sit down and eat it. Zoro dashed up and started grabbing as much food as he could off the table and moved off with it to take it to Mikita.

Mikita looked up at him and lightly smiled. "Got enough food there?" Zoro smiled. "For both of us. Probably." Mikita looked back down at her food, fiddling with it while in thought. _He's acting so different lately. I don't understand… Well, he is mad so I guess it's to be expected._ She took a bite of her food and tried not to think on it.

Leona accepted her meal from Sanji as she nodded with a light smile. She didn't allow this to linger for very long as she turned and walked off with her food. Sanji had given Leona one of his old smiles back at her, before walking off into the kitchens. He was at least now trying to get back the relationship they'd had before he'd gone and screwed it up.

"I'm gonna win!" Karasu yelled with a mouthful of food. Leoko smirked. "Doubtful." Luffy automatically proved Karasu and Leoko's points wrong right there by stretching his mouth and enveloping the table. He then swallowed the food and spat the table and dishes back out, all nice and sparkly. Karasu and Leoko sweatdropped sadly and said, "Rubber boy wins." Leoko pouted a bit, but then he smirked and froze Luffy's brain. Luffy jumped up and started running around. "BRAIN FREEZE! BRAIN FREEZE! AAAAAAAAH!" Nami looked up in irritation. "What brain are you talking about?" Luffy ran around until he accidentally smashed his head against Karasu's.

Karasu didn't react as if it had hurt her. Instead, she began to frantically scratch her head in the spot that his head hit. "Damn it! You made it itch!" She then jumped and attacked Luffy. Leoko smirked and laid back. "Nice entertainment." Luffy then started brawling with Karasu. Mikita rolled her eyes and continued to eat her food. Zoro also rolled his eyes. "Morons." He was sitting a bit farther away from Mikita than he normally did. Mikita realized this fact and it made her curious, but she didn't ask. She felt that any rejections were only in her mind. She ate a bit more of her food and then stood up to stretch. She was going to ask Zoro if he was coming with her to the crow's nest, but she then had another thought. _No. He's too mad about the whole curse thing. I just have to give him some time. _She then headed up to the crow's nest to lie down.

Zoro looked up at her and soon directed his attention elsewhere. As Mikita rested in the crow's nest, she thought to herself again. _What if he's mad at me because of it, since I didn't tell him right off like I should have?_ Zoro had gone to sleep at the base of the mast. Of course, Leona was the first to realize this as she observed Zoro's actions of staying farther away from Mikita. _Is he mad at her again?_ Her thoughts were interrupted by Karasu and Luffy, who crashed recklessly into the wall next to her. Leoko smirked, for he had also frozen Karasu's brain. "LLLLLLLLLLLLL…" Karasu moaned as she drooled out of the edge of her mouth and wobbled around. Her tongue was also hanging out of her mouth.

Leoko was chuckling lightly under his breath, trying to hold back his laughter and keep his cool. Luffy was laughing while attacking Karasu with Gomu Gomu no Gatling Gun. Karasu reacted by karate chopping Luffy between the eyes. "YAYA!" Leoko laughed a bit more, considering that he had given her control of her brain once more and unfrozen it. The chop seemed to split Luffy's head in half but then it sprung back to normal. "Haha! That tickled! Gomu Gomu no Bullet!" He unleashed the Gomu Gomu no Pistol at point blank range. As the attack hit Karasu, she grabbed onto Luffy's fist and flew back with the punch. "WEEEEEEE!" As his arm returned to him, she was being reeled back in with it as she slammed into him and tackled him. She had him pinned as she smirked. "I win." Luffy smirked. "No you don't! Gomu Gomu no Balloon!" He expanded into a massive bloated form, which caused Karasu to bounce off him. Once again, Karasu enjoyed this as she yelled, "WEEEEEEEEE!" Leoko blinked. "Those two are so odd at times…"

"Tell me about it," Mikita said as she approached behind him. Leoko looked at her. "What are you doing up? I thought you were up at the crow's nest." Mikita nodded. "I was, but I can't rest anyway so why bother?" Luffy started punching Karasu again. She reacted by scratching Luffy's hands with her claws. She accidentally cut one of his wrists and she started screaming high-pitched. "OH MY GOD! THE WRIIIIIIIST!" She ran off to the other end of the ship and protected her wrists, as if she were paranoid about them. Leoko blinked. "But she didn't cut her wrist…" Mikita sighed. "I know, but she has this paranoia about the wrist. At least I know she'd never go emo."

"EMO? WHERE?" Karasu yelled as she rocked forward and backward, holding onto her wrists. Leona just shook her head. "He's fine Karasu." Karasu stared at Leona blankly with wide eyes. "The wrist…" Luffy then just shrugged and snuck into the kitchens to steal some food. Leoko looked at Mikita. "So what's up with you and the swordsman lately?" Mikita shrugged and sat down next to where Leoko was standing. "I don't know. He might be mad at me." Leoko looked down at her. "Mad at you? For what?" Mikita crossed her legs as she sat there. "For many reasons, like not telling him about the curse when he should have known. Same goes for the Wadou incident. Plus it was my fault that we lost our child, so yeah."

Leoko took a seat next to her. "Relationships always have these sorts of rocky roads eh? Of course I wouldn't know about that or anything since I've never had anyone with a seriousness or anything." Mikita looked at him. "Neither have I before I met Zoro. It was definitely not something that I was used to."

"You seemed to have adjusted well though," Leoko replied as he leaned back. Mikita looked over at him and noticed the necklace around his neck. It wasn't Tsuyoku's necklace, but there was still something familiar about it as she observed it. "What is that necklace for?" Leoko opened his eyes and held onto the pendant. "You mean this? It's what helps me control my powers." Mikita nodded in understanding. "Without it, I would be a mess," he added with a chuckle that followed. Mikita was still in thought. She remembered stealing a necklace like that from someone once before, but who? All she remembered was running out of a cave with it and some sort of box.

"What are you thinking so hard about?" Leoko asked as he looked at her. Mikita shook her head. "Just some random, ridiculous thoughts." This sparked Leoko's curiosity. "Like what?" She blinked at him. "I'm not going to explain something to you that I don't quite understand myself." He shrugged. "All right then." Mikita walked off as she said, "I'm going on a random murder spree for the hell of it." Leoko looked curious of what she was thinking about, so he decided to follow her and find out. "Mind if I come with you Mikita? I need the practice anyway." Mikita looked back at him and shrugged. "As you wish." She then hopped off the ship.

Leoko shrugged back. "Coolio. I get to kill random people." He left his sword, but he brought his bow. He twanged the string and took his quiver as he followed. He also brought a small ring of a light blue color. It was always glowing, no matter if it were in sun or shade. Mikita recognized this ring as well as she secretly observed it. She had a memory of finding it in a small box that she had pilfered. _That ring… I remember it too. But why?_ She walked on as she thought about it. Leoko didn't notice as he continued to twiddle with his bow. He looked at Mikita just before they reached the city. "What?" Mikita just shook her head. "Nothing." She then saw the city and smirked. "This will be exciting." She cracked her claws in intimidation and preparation.

Leoko notched an arrow and looked over at her. "May I fire the first… death thingy?" Mikita smirked. "Be my guest." Leoko smirked back. "Okay but you'll be sorry…" He took out an arrow. It looked like a normal arrow except the tip was ice. He fired it into the middle of the crowd and once it hit its target, it instantly exploded in an icy attack killing most of the civilians and police around. It even managed to knock down a building. Leoko looked at her with a grin. "You can go now."

Mikita shrugged. "If you say so." She unsheathed her sword and twirled it above her head, creating a tornado that sped toward the town. The twister tore through many of the homes and buildings as she watched it happen casually. She looked aside at him with a smirk as she lightly elbowed his arm. "Here comes the best part." The tornado broke through a ten-story building and each layer of the building came crashing down, killing all that were inside. "You were saying…?"

Leoko laughed. "That was pretty smooth. I'll accept that as a victory for you miss fleas-in-her-pants." He ran down rapidly firing arrows at the crowd. Mikita chased after him with an inner smirk. "You'll have that one coming back on you later mister icy ass." She threw blades of fire at them from her claws. Leoko laughed and dodged the blades by jumping into the crowd. Mikita's fire attacks attracted to many people in the crowd and set them aflame. Leoko looked back at Mikita. "Same to you furry butt." He launched ice spikes at her and a polar explosion arrow. Mikita used her fire attacks to counter the ice attacks, using her flaming sword to block the spikes. "Hey! I wasn't attacking you! I was attacking the people! Jeez!" She then leaped out of the way of the explosion arrow.

Leoko sweatdropped. "Sorry my bad... heh. Sometimes I'm as dense as Kari." He was on the top of the building and he noticed a cave. It looked oddly familiar to him, but he shrugged it off and jumped down in front of a policeman and bashed his head with his bow.

In the meantime, Zoro was still asleep on the mast, while Luffy was now challenging Karasu to a 'who can hold the most food in their mouth at once' contest. Karasu tried to stretch her mouth out, but it wouldn't work as well for her, challenging a rubber guy. She sighed. "Well I can't win at that, but I can do this!" She extended her tongue really long, way longer than body length, and wrapped it around a bunch of food, more than the amount that Luffy had in his mouth. Luffy just kept on shoveling food in his mouth. The Merry started to lean towards the side Luffy was on. Karasu shrugged and let go of the food wrapped around her tongue. She decided to just wrap Luffy up in her tongue around his waist. The ship was drastically leaning toward Karasu's end now. Leona blinked. "That's weird." Luffy then shoved Karasu's head into his mouth along with everything else. Leona's eye twitched. "This is even weirder."

Mikita was attacking the police as well, but that cave also distracted her as she looked up at it on the mountainside. _That cave… It seems so familiar._ She felt a stinging in her arm as she growled and glared at it. An officer had shot it with a bullet. Mikita glared at that officer. "You'll pay dearly for that." She dashed over to him and stabbed him in the jugular vein with her claw, watching in satisfaction as he bled to death. Leoko saw Mikita stabbing the officer in the neck and he smirked. "That's a little harsh for a wee little bullet." He walked over and opened the wound a little bit. "Hold still." Mikita didn't usually take orders to do something, but she seemed to trust him as she stood still. Leoko quickly pulled the bullet out. "Okay. Now heal it." Mikita nodded and healed her wound. "I could've done that myself, but thanks anyway." She even managed a light smile.

The people of the town that remained alive were about to ambush Mikita and Leoko. She smirked. "Let's allow them to have a fun chase shall we?" She took off running as they came at her. There would be no way that they'd ever catch up to her. Leoko shrugged. "Sure. Yeah. Hold on." He took a police baton stick. "Okay let's go." He sprinted after the civilians. Mikita smirked back at him and continued running, but she was soon halted by running into someone large. It was Kachi, the dog goddess once again. Mikita looked up at her while lying there on the ground as she sighed in irritation. "You again? Jeez! How many times are you going to show up in my life huh? Haven't you done enough?"

"Haven't you?" Kachi asked with a glare. Mikita sat up and blinked. "Oh yeah, the whole innocents thing. Eh, it doesn't matter. I don't care anyway." She smirked and this made Kachi angrier as she pinned Mikita with her large paw. This stunned the breath from Mikita momentarily as she stared coldly up at the goddess. "Well aren't you nice?" she asked with a hint of sarcasm. Kachi just growled at her. Leoko didn't notice anything as he continued to senselessly beat down everyone in his path. Kachi growled at seeing Leoko doing this, so she used a magnetic type of telekinesis to draw him to her paw. He slammed into her paw and she forced him down on the ground. Now she had one of them under each paw. "Leoko Mystuga. Who knew I'd be tracking you both down again, just like old times." Mikita raised an eyebrow. "Tracking us both down? What's that supposed to mean? I never knew him before."

"Oh but you have," Kachi replied as she held them there. "You two go several years back." Mikita was extremely confused at this. "But I surely don't remember, and you'd think that I would remember him… unless I didn't know him very well." Kachi smirked. "You knew him quite well actually." Mikita didn't even respond as she laid there and thought on it. Leoko thought about it as well and finally replied, "Yeah whoever you are, if I knew her well at all I would remember it, no?" He struggled to get out from under her paw. "You know you're choking me right?" Kachi stared flatly at him. "You know you're murdering innocents right?" She said it in a way as if to mock him.

Mikita sighed. "Listen here, if you are such a smart goddess, then would you mind telling me how it is that you think I knew Leoko before recently?" Kachi shook her head. "No. I cannot tell you since I… Wait a minute…" Mikita blinked at her and wondered what she was scheming. Kachi tapped her ear against her head in thought and then she said, "Tell you what. I'll let you answer your own questions." She sent a strange violet light into them and it centered around their minds. Mikita's eyes opened wide and she looked at Leoko. "You were my…ex?"

_Well that's a surprising twist eh? This plot is about to get complicated so PUT ON YOUR SEATBELTS! YAYA! _


	27. Chapter 27

_First of all, I'm sorry it took so long to update, but my old computer went haywire... but now I gots a new one...! that doesn't have Word on it. -frowns- Oh well, word pad will do for now... though there may be typos and so you'll have to forgive me if there are... -sweatdrop- Anyways, ENJOY!_

Previously on Hicchuu Junan...

Mikita sighed. "Listen here, if you are such a smart goddess, then would you mind telling me how it is that you think I knew Leoko before recently?" Kachi shook her head. "No. I cannot tell you since I… Wait a minute…" Mikita blinked at her and wondered what she was scheming. Kachi tapped her ear against her head in thought and then she said, "Tell you what. I'll let you answer your own questions." She sent a strange violet light into them and it centered around their minds. Mikita's eyes opened wide and she looked at Leoko. "You were my…ex?"

Leoko looked at Mikita. "You mean you and I... dated? That can't be possible. I don't remember any of it." Mikita shook her head. "Me either." She then remembered how it happened and she looked at Kachi. "You... You're the one that made us forget! Why?" Kachi sighed. "You have to learn your lesson pup."

"I am not a pup!" Mikita exclaimed. Kachi just shook her head and lifted her large paws off of them, stepping back. "One day you'll understand my ways pup." She then disappeared in a beam of light and Mikita glared. "I AM NOT A PUP! JEEZ! She's practically deaf!" She then looked at Leoko, but she couldn't seem to look at him the same way anymore. She had come to find out that she was once in love with someone other than Zoro. Long before she had met Zoro... there was Leoko. They hadn't expected it. Neither of them did, so it was a big shocker for them. Leoko looked at her in a sort of surprise, and yet that same old look from before is what fell upon his face, the look of slight inner adoration for her.

Mikita got lost in his eyes as he looked into her eyes. She felt that she couldn't look away, as if she were being hypnotized. Mikita then shook her head and looked away, discontinuing eye contact. "I uhh... This is too weird." Leoko nodded. "Tell me about it. What's weirder is that she would erase our memories of that day and now suddenly give them back to us." Mikita pondered on it. "I don't understand it either." Leoko then looked at her. "That day we met... it is still fresh on my mind." Mikita laughed lightly. "Yeah, I remember it too."

Flashback: Mikita walked along the forest one day, her tail swaying calmly behind her. Furry brown wolf ears were atop her head. One of them twitched as it turned to the direction of a nearby sound. She was now on the alert as she kept her guard. Leoko was walking through the brush tiredly as he sighed and leaned back against a tree, tapping it lightly. "I'm so bushed, travelling all this way. Might as well take a break." Mikita looked toward the direction of this sound, hearing the sound of his voice as she growled.

Leoko heard the growl and unsheathed his Kyoutzai. He looked around and whistled lightly. Mikita growled and remained unseen, watching him with her cold blue eyes. Leoko suddenly noticed the blue eyes and he lowered his stance. He got down on his knees, thinking it was an average wolf. "Hey there wolfie. What's up? You don't have to hide in the bushes." The demon came out of the bushes, appearing mostly as a human, except with wolf ears and a tail. She stared at him and watched his every move. "Who are you and what do you want?"

Leoko was surprised by her showing up. He slowly got up and sheathed his sword. "I am Leoko, and I don't want anything except to find a way away from these caves." Mikita turned away carelessly. "Well you're on your own. As long as you get out of here soon, it won't matter to me." Leoko smirked. "Nice to meet you too, and who might you be?" His eyes then focused on her blood-tainted claws as he looked at them curiously. Mikita continued walking away as she casually replied, "Mikita Shikaku." She then disappeared from sight.

Leoko sighed and followed as he crept silently. He wanted to know more about this Mikita. Mikita rolled her eyes. "I know you're there you know." Leoko pouted a little. "Yeah. Yeah. I guess..." He ran and caught up with Mikita. "So, I can sense you're demon. Interesting. I've never met a wolf demon before." Mikita sighed. "Whatever." She wasn't very social or friendly. Leoko sighed. "It's not going to be easy talking to you, is it wolfie?" Mikita simply walked on. "Nope. Never is." Leoko shrugged. "Should have expected that." He looked warily at her blood-stained claws and then decided to focus his attention elsewhere as he unsheathed his sword and began toying with it.

Mikita just walked on, ignoring him. Leoko grumbled a little, but then he grinned slyly and decided to play a little trick on Mikita. He controlled the water with his powers as he made it splash Mikita. Mikita's body began to glow angrily as her body went up in flames, drying her off. She then proceeded to walk away. Leoko laughed. "Jeez, you're so unsociable. All I'm trying to do is have a little fun and you're being miss fleas-in-her-pants." "And you're being a pain in the ass," Mikita replied rudely as she continued to try and leave this guy behind. Leoko laughed again. "Is it that time of the month, or is that bushy tail of yours making you constipated?" Mikita glared at them. "Damn it! Would you two get away from me?!" She ran off in a whirlwind and secluded herself in a shady area of the forest. "Okay... nowhere in sight." She laid her head back and closed her eyes.

Leoko then teleported from a small creek nearby and smirked. "Boo." Mikita jumped up and the fur on her tail stood on end. "Damn it! What do I have to do to get rid of you?!" Leoko looked at her. "Maybe some kindness and sociality." Mikita raised an eyebrow. "That will only make you hang around longer." Leoko smiled. "Yes... until you bore me, which you will, and then I'll just stab you in the heart and walk off." Mikita smirked at him. "Will you now?" Her murderous, evil smile faced him as her tail shifted with the curiosity and anxiousness. Her fangs pointed out of her mouth as she seemed to have a slaughter planned for him. "You know, I like the way you think. However, no one thinks those kinds of thoughts about me." She threw ten blades of fire toward his vital points from her claws.

Leoko parried them and chuckled at her. "You know, I was only kidding, but now that you're trying to kill me..." He used his powers to freeze her tail. "I might as well have some fun." Mikita growled as she swished her tail, breaking the ice off of her tail. She twitched it around a few times since the attack had caused her tail pain. She glared at Leoko. "You want it that way do you?" She ran at him and held her hand on the handle of her sword, prepared to unsheathe it and slash at him within close range. Leoko just smirked and made ice shields on his hands as he rapidly punched at Mikita.

Mikita unsheathed her sword as she approached and the blade burned with fire, making contact with the ice gloves and burning them. She smirked, but not for long when her fire went out. "Well, it seems as if our powers cancel out." She shrugged and slashed at Leoko's throat, trying to strike a vital point. Leoko grabbed the sword, ignoring his bleeding hand. "You noticed I haven't even touched my sword." He threw the sword back and kicked at Mikita's throat. As his foot nearly made contact with her throat, she bit his foot and clamped down on it.

Leoko just hopped on one foot. "Well this is awkward." He then jumped back and Mikita did the same. She landed on her feet and stared him down. "You're an interesting opponent." She was then distracted by another scent that she seemed to fear as she put her ears back. "No... He couldn't have found me here." Leoko cocked his head. "Uhh, thanks... and who is this 'he'?" Mikita looked at him. "My father. He's after me for my power... and then he wants to kill me once he gains my power." She was watching her back cautiously.

Leoko nodded. "I see... So do you need any help, or are you going to be rude and stupid about having some help?" Mikita raised an eyebrow at him. "_You _want to help _me_? That's new." She was then shot in the side with an icy kunai that paralyzed her. She shouted and fell to the ground. Leoko was startled, but he soon reacted by instinct and ran over to her, picking her up and holding her in his arms. "You're heavy," he grunted. He laughed lightly and sprinted off to a far away cave.

Back from the flashback: Mikita laughed a little. "I was such an ass to you." Leoko laughed as well. "Yeah, you were, but you got better." Mikita nodded. "I know. It still baffles me about how I couldn't remember any of this. Stupid show-offy goddess," she mumbled. Leoko walked along next to her as he kicked a pebble in thought. Mikita looked at him questioningly. "Leoko? What are you thinking about?" He looked at her. "Well... do you remember how it was after I saved you and took you to that cave?" Mikita nodded as she remembered that day as well.

Flashback: Back in the cave that Leoko had taken Mikita to, he took the kunai out of her side and comforted her as he wrapped her up in a blanket and held her in his lap. Mikita looked up at him wearily. " But why? I don't understand..." She flinched with pain and was confused with the fact that he had helped her. Leoko smiled. "You may have been a rude, nasty person, but you needed help and I help friends in need." Mikita stared at him for a while in surprise. She had never had anyone help her like this. She felt a strange likeness inside as she accepted his help. She felt his warmth from his body heat and lightly smiled without knowing.

Leoko smiled at her. "I like your smile..." He then shook his head and tried to change the subject. "Anyway, we'd better seal off our body heat so what's-his-face can't find us." He froze the front entrance, making it impossible to track their body heat. He wrapped more blankets around Mikita and sat next to her. "I bandaged your side. It will be fine." Mikita nodded, but she couldn't bring herself to thank him. She kept telling herself to in her mind, but she couldn't say it. She made a fire in front of her with her firepowers and held her hands over it. "So... what are you doing out here anyway?"

"I'm looking for my father... I want to kill him, with a vengeance. You see, he killed my mother to hide his affair with a human. The human... was my real mother. I loved her... My entire family was slaughtered by my father's armies... and since I was ten I've been searching for him ready to kill him."

Mikita looked at him curiously. "It's not... the same father as mine is it. by any chance?" Leoko laughed. "My father is the king of the water demons. His name is Zakata." Mikita sighed. "Okay. For a second there, I thought I might have gained another brother to add to the sibling shizzy. My father's name is Tsuyoku and he is an A class fire demon. I have never been able to surpass him in strength, no matter how strong I am, he always beats me." Leoko sighed. "That's because he obviously doesn't fight a fair fight. Anyone who doesn't fight a fair fight could defeat you, me, anyone." He laid back and continued to speak. "You just have to 'surprise' him and you'll finally kill the bastard eh?" He lay there near Mikita as he closed his eyes.

Mikita smiled lightly as she sat there next to him. She studied his aura and personality. Something about this guy was appealing to her. He was a kinder person than the rest of the men that she had met. She could actually tolerate this one. They were such opposites in power and personality, but it was always said that opposites attract. Mikita looked at the fire and her stomach growled as she looked down at it. Leoko smirked as he heard her stomach growl. "Are you hungry or is that instinct?" Mikita sighed. "I guess it means I'm hungry. I don't guess there is any other meaning to it, besides a warning sign of gas or diarrhea." She chuckled. Leoko kind of winced. "I hope it's the first one. Here..." He opened his pack and gave her some fish in a water-made bag. "It's fresh. You can cook it over a fire if you wish."

Mikita just gulped it down in one bite. She licked her fangs and grinned. "Mmmm..." She paused and glanced at him seriously. "Ummm... thanks." She had finally gotten herself to thank him for what he had done for her. She felt it was the least she could do. Leoko nodded. "No problem. Anytime. Feel free to use anything in my pack _except_..." He pulled out a necklace and a small box as he laid them aside. "...these two items. Other than that, everything else is yours for the taking. I'm not hungry anyway."

She looked at these items curiously. The wonder of their purpose made her want to know. "What are their value to you?" Leoko looked at her seriously. "The box contains... my mother's ring, and the necklace is what helps me control my powers. Without it, I would be a mess." Mikita nodded. "I see..." She had an itch on her neck, so she scratched it with the claws on her hand the way a dog would with its back leg, though she didn't use her leg. Leoko chuckled at the sight and laid back on the hard rock. "Ugh, I'm tired for some reason and I'm never tired." Mikita looked at him. "Well rest then." She wrapped her tail around her legs as she remained sitting next to him. Leoko sighed. "Very well." He closed his eyes, smiling a bit. Mikita noticed his smile and grinned lightly herself. She looked back at the fire and curled up with her tail around her legs.

After a couple of hours, when he was sound asleep, Mikita had disappeared from the cave. The ice barrier was broken through. His necklace and the box containing his mother's ring were missing as well. When Leoko woke up, he noticed this and glared. He roared as he felt his rage taking control of his waterpowers. There was murder in his eyes as he grabbed his sword and stormed out of the cave. Any water or ice that he ran by did strange things, like explode or make strange shapes as it attacked anything in sight through an icy form. Leoko continued to search for Mikita as he hunted down her body heat.

Mikita walked out to a place near an ocean. She carried the necklace and the box along with her as she handed the necklace to some guy. "Here. You wanted this, but I just took this box thingy for my own thrill of the steal." The man smirked as he took the necklace. Zakata then came from the shadows weilding Shrugal, his axe. He looked at the box as he took it from her with his waterpowers and opened it. "Ahh, the ring. I haven't seen it for quite some time." Mikita shrugged. "Whatever. So what about my part of the deal? I give you the necklace... and the ring apparently, and you give me ice tolerance powers."

Zakata smirked and pinned her to a tree with ice. He walked up to her smiling evilly. "What power? You're of no use to me now." Mikita winced with the pain and she then growled. "You bastard! We had a deal! And now you're going to pay for going back on your word." Her body burst into flames and she melted the ice as she charged at Zakata. She sent a large fire blast from her sword. Zakata easily dodged and hacked Mikita in the side. "You're so much weaker than me. Don't even try it woman." He electricuted her, making her bow to him. Leoko suddenly jumped in and attacked his father. When he noticed Mikita, you could see hurt and betrayal in his eyes. He unsheathed his sword and sliced rapidly at Zakata.

Mikita had no conscience for the matter as she attacked them both with her firepowers along with her spiritual energy. She then wrapped her Dragon Tail around Zakata's waist and pulled on it to chop him in half. Zakata disappeared from sight and Leoko instantly teleported behind Mikita, getting her into a heimlich hold and putting his sword to her throat. "You took my mother's ring and my necklace! I should kill you for this!" He applied a bit of pressure as it penetrated the skin and made her neck bleed slightly. Mikita sighed and burned him with flames as she moved away and healed her neck. "I'm an assassin. It's what I do." She smirked at him. "You're just too trusting you know that? Of course now I have to kill your father for betraying me..." She unsheathed her sword. "And you for threatening to kill me."

Leoko's eyes watered as he took his stuff. "Yeah? Well I'm sorry I was being an only friend to you. I'm never forgiving you for this. Never! Even if it was my father's fault." He put on his necklace and his mother's ring, making him triple in power. He stared at her darkly and slashed at her repeatedly in rage. Mikita smirked at the challenge as she blocked each attack. "You act as if I should care." Her aura bursted out around her and scorched anything in sight. Leoko ignored the pain of the fire as he grabbed Mikita and threw her against a tree. He rammed his sword into her stomach as her blood shed and she gasped, freezing in shock as she stared at him. He then jerked his sword out of her stomach, his expression cold and unchanged, as he turned and walked away.

Mikita winced and healed her stomach wound as she glared at him. "Fool. If you wish to die, then go commit suicide. I will not waste my time with killing you." This was not the typical response for her, since she usually relished the chance to kill someone else. Leoko looked back. "Fine then. I will. I don't have anyone to care for. The only ones left of my family have shunned me... and one of the few people I trusted betrays me." His voice faded, as did his form. "Hn," Mikita scoffed as she walked off in the opposite direction.

Back from the flashback: Mikita looked a bit sadly at Leoko. "Well maybe that wasn't such a good memory huh?" Leoko shook his head. "Not all memories are good ones." Mikita stared silently in front of her as they walked, her mind in deep thought. She finally decided to change the subject and switch her track of thought to Zoro. "Well, we should head back to the ship now. Maybe Zoro will finally be in the mood to talk to me." Leoko nodded quickly in agreement. "You're right. We need to get back there." Neither of them wanted to relive the feelings of the past, since Mikita was already paired off with a new mate. She hadn't even known that she had a mate before Zoro. This was all a surprise to her, as well as to Leoko. He didn't want to let the memories linger on any longer. He chose to keep them to himself the remainder of the way back.

Zoro was back asleep in the birds nest. When Mikita got there, she looked up at the nest and wondered if he was awake or not. She decided to climb up there with him. Zoro showed no reaction. Proof that he was asleep. Mikita sat down next to him silently as she looked out at the waters, waiting for him to wake up.

Meanwhile, Luffy was walking around thinking of a challenge for either Leoko or Karasu. Karasu took out a bag of grapes. "I'm bored! Let's play grapes! I bet I can make a better storyline than both of you!" She then picked up two grapes and started talking for them. "I'm the mommy grape. I'm the daddy grape. I hate you. Oh yeah, well I'm gonna abuse you! AAAAAHHHH!" She started smashing them together and grape juice splattered in her eyes. "MY EYES!" She jumped up and ran until she ran off the side of the ship and down into the cold water, screaming as she bubbled underwater. Nami noticed Karasu go over the side. "Let's hurry and leave before she can get back on board." Karasu was already back on board as she innocently asked, "What did you say Nami?" She was hiding in Sanji's shirt for warmth, poking her head out of the top collar of his shirt. Sanji was crimson red right now. "Karasu-chwan!" Karasu looked up at him. "What? I'm cold. Stay still! You're lucky I'm not in your pants." Leona laughed a little at that comment and Karasu glared at her. "Pervert!" She then hid her face in the shirt as she shivered, facing the same direction Sanji was.

Luffy walked by and somehow missed Karasu hiding in the shirt. "SANJI! You've got a giant lump in your chest. And two more smaller ones on your stomach." Karasu poked out of the shirt and yelled high-pitched, "I'M NOT SMALL!" Luffy blinked. "Oh. Hi Karasu." Karasu smiled. "Hi." Mikita shook her head and sighed. Luffy then walked off to look for a fishing rod. Mikita looked down below and watched him curiously. _What's he up to?_ Luffy found a rod and went with Chopper and Usopp to the side of the deck and cast out their lines. Mikita just shrugged and leaned back against the nest, closing her eyes. She was tired of waiting on Zoro to wake up, so she rested her eyes.

Zoro woke up not long after. He noticed Mikita next to him and smiled slightly, but climbed out of the birds nest. Mikita was asleep now, but she soon woke up and felt his presence gaining distance. She looked down and saw him. "Zoro?" She jumped down and landed behind him. "Hey..." Zoro was up at the front of the ship, looking out at the waters. Mikita paused for a moment before taking a step farther. She wanted to speak, but she decided not to. Zoro turned around and looked at her. She blinked and stared. "...Hi." Zoro smiled. "Hey." Mikita's lip curled a slight fake smile that went back down. "Are you mad at me, or are you sick or something?" Zoro blinked. "Why would I be any of those things?" Mikita sighed. "Well... you seem to be acting different lately and... well nevermind. It's probably just my imagination." She then turned and walked off. Zoro looked as she walked off and then shrugged. "Wonder what's gotten into her?"

Mikita noticed Leoko sitting nearby against the railing of the ship, fiddling with his sword. She decided to walk over to talk to him. "Hey. What are you doing? You look like you're in thought." Leoko stared at her flatly. "Who wouldnt be in thought after what I just learned what, five minutes ago?" He sighed and leaned against the railing still fiddling with his sword. Mikita sighed and sat down next to him, looking at the floor in front of her. "I know, I'm confused as well." Leoko looked up at the sky. He didnt really know what to believe anymore. He looked at Mikita and soon looked away at the floorboards of the ship, still reliving the past he had forgotten over and over again. Mikita chanced a look at him and she also remembered those days when she used to be with him, when she used to love him. To remember that she had once had such a bond was hard for her to believe and understand, but now that her memories had returned, she couldn't let them go.

There was one significance of the memories however. They didn't return all at once, but are now returning in order to them gradually. She soon remembered another incident that happened between them as she relived it in her memories.

Flashback: After their dispute, Leoko had gone to a secluded spot in the forest. He flung his sword into a tree and stopped. "Well I guess I should head towards my father now." An icy kunai went toward Leoko and stuck into his shoulder. The kunai was a paralyzation weapon with that dark magic. An evil looking figure stepped out from the shadows. "I smell her scent here with you. Where is she?" Little did Tsuyoku notice at the moment, but Leoko was immune to ice attacks, since it was practically a part of his element. He simply pulled the kunai out. "She went the other way. I don't know where... I'm guessing you must be her father." Tsuyoku smirked. "That, I am." He then channeled in on Mikita's scent around Leoko and her scent had rubbed off on Leoko from earlier when he had carried her to the cave. "So, you have relations with her?"

Leoko just laughed at this. "Haha, she betrayed me and pushed me aside. If you want her dead, I'm all ears." Tsuyoku smirked. "Is that so? Well then I may have use for you after all. You're an ice apparition as I can see. Well you will give her quite the competition that's for sure." Leoko turned away. "I'm not going to pawn in on some scheme of yours, so I'll pass." Tsuyoku cursed the necklace around Leoko's neck for his own control. "Who said you had a choice?" Leoko growled, holding back the curse in the necklace with all his strength. "How dare you touch my mother's last gift to me... this is her teardrop and..." He slowly began to weaken due to Tsuyoku's powers as he tightly shut his eyes. "I... won't... let you." Tsuyoku's eyes flashed red hues to Leoko's eyes as the curse went to his full control.

Mikita was walking along her own pathway as she growled. 'Why am I feeling so strange inside? Is this that thing they call 'guilt' or something?' She then heard a sound behind her as she darted around to see what it was. Leoko was there behind her. He held no expression as he stared coldly through his controlled eyes. He drew his sword and ran at her, completely out of his original style, as he swung it at her. Mikita dodged him. "I can't believe you were plotting against me as well this entire time." She smirked. "Maybe we're not complete opposites, since you are the one that's more foolish than I." She scratched at his chest with her flaming red claws.

Tsuyoku just stood back and watched in amusement. Leoko ignored his wounds and fired ice spikes at Mikita, following that move with a water spout. This grabbed a hold of Mikita so she couldn't dodge the spikes. Tsuyoku smiled with an evil delight as the spikes struck Mikita in various places on her arms, legs, and sides. She flinched and moaned with the pain as she clenched her teeth. She became furious as she busted away from the water spout. She roared angrily as she smashed her fists onto the ground, creating an earthquake that went to Leoko. The ground also opened up underneath him like a miniature hell hole, as it was consumed with fire.

Leoko jumped and had almost fallen into the hole. His eyes went from black to blue as he shook his head. "Mikita! Help! Please!" His eyes went dark again as he ran at Mikita and slashed at her. Mikita's eyes widened. _He's being controlled_. As she thought this, she left herself wide open for the attack and she was cut in the chest and shoulder. She gritted her teeth and jumped back. Tsuyoku smirked, as he could read her mind. "Brilliant accusation dearie. Although I had expected you to realize that long ago." Mikita glared at Tsuyoku, but she then jumped back and dodged Leoko again.

Leoko's eyes continued to flash back and forth between hues as he desperately fought off the control. Leoko held his head and shouted as the real Leoko inside slowly fought off Tsuyoku's control. Mikita saw her opportunity as she noticed that Leoko was handling himself. She dashed at Tsuyoku and cut into his chest with her Dragon Tail. Tsuyoku growled at her as he leaped back and up into the trees. "Fine. Be that way, but this is far from over." He disappeared from sight. Leoko had fallen unconscious from the strain on his mind.

Once he was at the point of coming to, Mikita was sitting next to him in the same cave with a fire going as it was before. Mikita studied his unconscious form for a moment in thought, then healed the chest wounds that she had inflicted on him. Leoko sat up and glared angrily at her. "What do you want? You already took my dignity." Mikita's ears lowered as she looked away. The guilt within her was steadily growing. "You got them back didn't you? Besides, I saved your ass to return the favor. If that's all you desire of my presence, then I shall leave you now." She stood up and faced the exit of the cave, tucking her tail between her legs. Leoko looked down, feeling guilty as well. He was always a sucker for a saddened female. "Wait. Don't go. I'm sorry for..." He remained sitting there, not knowing what to say.

"No," Mikita stopped his words as she remained with her back to him. "I have no place in this world to be forgiven. You have a right to hate me, just as everyone else does." She glanced at him with a different, saddened look in her narrowed eyes. "Goodbye Leoko Mystuga." She turned and started walking away. Leoko followed her and put a hand on her shoulder. "No, you deserve to be forgiven." He smiled warmly at her. Mikita just paused and stood there for a moment. "Look, I repaid the favor. If I leave now, you will no longer have to put up with this shit. Okay? It's too dangerous to know me." Leoko smirked. "Being with people in constant danger makes it fun."

Mikita looked at him questioningly. "Why do you want to stay with me?" Leoko smiled. "Because you're one of the few people I enjoy talking to." Mikita was still baffled. "Why? I'm not the social type. What's so interesting about talking to me?" Leoko laughed. "What's so interesting? Come on! You're a wolf demon with blood-tainted claws who is being chased by a madman that is her father. That is very interesting to me." Mikita just blinked at him and walked back into the cave. "Suit yourself." She sat near the fire and warmed her hands. Leoko sighed happily and sat next to her.

Mikita looked at him strangely for a bit. He was so odd to her at times. One moment he was trying to kill her. The next, he was feeling forgiving and smiling at her. Leoko looked at her and sighed as he stood up, fiddling with his mother's ring. "You don't know what stone this is, do you?" Mikita looked at him. "Huh? What stone?" She repeated. "No I actually don't..." Leoko looked at her. "It's framagnihite... Nevermind. You probably don't care anyway." He dropped it in the box. "Anyway, what kind of demon are you?"

Mikita didn't comment the fact that she may not have cared. "I'm a wolf demon with fire apparition in me from my father's side. My father is similar to yours, except he has like ten affairs in a week." Leoko looked at her and said, "My father was a nice man, but one day he just went cruel and evil. He killed my family, my friends, my mom... He just took control of everything." He sighed and then decided to change the subject. "Fire apparition eh? Interesting. My weakness is your strength." Mikita smirked at him. "Same to you." Leoko tilted his head. "Ah, you are weak to ice? Now that's interesting. Isn't your dad an ice apparition?" Mikita shook her head. "No. He is a fire demon." Leoko seemed confused a bit. "And yet he uses ice powers. Is that even possible?"

Mikita looked downward. "He steals the powers of others... He can tolerate his weaknesses. Yet another reason why he surpasses me." Leoko smiled and walked over to Mikita. "He only surpasses you if you think that way." Mikita glared sadly. "Well it's true. He does. If I can't get used to my weakness, then I'm not strong enough to face him." Leoko put his hand on her shoulder. "Then I'll help you." Mikita lightly blushed as he touched her shoulder and she wasn't used to this feeling in her cheeks as she stared away in confusion. _What the... What is this feeling? _She thought to herself. She shook her head and kept her face turned away until the strange feeling left her cheeks. "All right..."

Leoko smirked, seeing her blush. "Don't worry. We'll kill your father. We'll defeat mine later." The redness left her face as she looked at him again, confused with her thoughts and feelings. _Why do I suddenly feel so strange when... It's nothing. I'm just confused. _She shook it off and stretched, popping her back. She then paused with a thought. "Do you think that my father copied the ice powers from your father?" Leoko shrugged. "Maybe. It's possible. I don't know if my father would just... give up his powers to your father though." Mikita shook her head. "Of course he wouldn't... unless they joined forces, but I doubt that. I just meant actually that it could have happened during a battle between the two." Leoko shrugged and took off his shirt. "It's hot in here... and if your father has that kind of power then probably yeah... or they joined forces, but I doubt that too." He then walked outside the cave.

Mikita had hurriedly looked away before seeing too much of his six pack abs. Her cheeks were flushed again. _Damn it. Why am I feeling like this? His abs were actually... No way! I'm not thinking that! I hate men! HATE THEM! _she yelled in her mind. She ceased her blushing and yawned, having convinced herself inside that he meant nothing to her in that way. She did not desire to fall for appearances, as for any trait of all male beings.She laid down near the fire and curled her tail around her legs to keep herself warmer and more comfortable.

Leoko walked back in with his shirt on once more as he smiled at her. "Comfy eh?" He wiped his brow. "Phew, I'm getting weak. It's just that warm in here." He froze part of the room and went to sit there. "Ahh, much better." Mikita chuckled at him and remained all curled up. She soon closed her eyes and fell asleep. Leoko looked at her and saw that she was fast asleep. He smiled a small smile and lay down next to her, wrapping an ice blanket around himself to keep cool. "Night."

Mikita smiled in her sleep and subconsciously rolled over toward Leoko. As soon as she felt the icy blanket, her first instinct was to shout out in surprise. The next was an impulse to scratch him across the cheek. She then realized it was him and paused. "Oops... sorry." The cuts that she had made on his cheek were bleeding and she placed her hand over his cheek, looking into his eyes for a moment. This made her feel awkward so she discontinued eye contact. Leoko had noticed and felt the same feeling by looking into Mikita's eyes for that brief moment, but he put on a disguising smile to hide the awkward emotion. "Hey there." He made his ice blanket vanish. "Sorry for hurting you." Mikita looked at him again and moved her hand away from his cheek, having healed the scratches. "It's fine. Really. I just got startled out of my sleep."

Leoko laughed. "Yeah, you and your weakness against ice cubes. That must really suck," he joked. Mikita looked at him and smirked. "Hey, me rolling into your ice blanket is like you rolling into that fire there." Leoko shrugged. "Yeah I know. I was just joking." He then poked her side, making her sound out a brief squeal. She then cleared her throat as if it didn't happen. "I wouldn't advise that. I'm not very fond with tickling." Leoko smirked. "And why not? Your laugh is cute. It's fun to listen to." Mikita blushed lightly and turned away. "Yeah it might, but if you tickle me for very long I won't be laughing..." Leoko smiled, seeing her blush again. "Okay I understand that... for now." He poked her side again.

Mikita jumped and a light growl escaped her. She cleared her throat and said, "Well... that is an example of my reaction... heh." Leoko laughed lightly. "Okay I get it. I won't do that anymore." He rolled himself up in a regular blanket and looked at Mikita. "So..." He seemed to blush a bit. For some reason he was extremely nervous. Mikita didn't see his blush. She had stood up and walked over to the entrance of the cave and was looking out there as if watching for something or someone cautiously. She looked back at him and then she noticed it. This made her curiously raise an eyebrow. _Is that what my cheeks were doing? _she asked herself in her mind. She soon shook it off and said, "What?" Leoko looked at her still lightly blushing. "I don't know. I guess I... forgot." Mikita stared for a moment, but she soon looked back outside the cave casually as if she didn't see much of this in its reasoning. She soon shrugged and walked back over to sit by him. "No sign of my father or yours for now."

Leoko stopped blushing and looked at Mikita. "That's good. Now we can just move around or stay here. Either way, I'm in no rush." He stretched. "Doesn't matter to me." Mikita nodded. "Yeah. I suppose we could get out of this cave for a while and go looko around town or something. Get something to eat, because I'm hungry and I can use the five claw discount as often as necessary." She smirked. Leoko grinned. "Smooth. The everlasting credit card." He stood up. "I'm not hungry, but I'll come with anyway." Mikita shrugged. "Okem dokey then." She stood up and walked out of the cave, using her senses to detect whether it was truly safe or not. Leoko nodded and followed her. He smirked at hearing her unusual words. "Okem dokey? Nice word." Mikita smiled lightly. "Thanks. It always has been." She walked along and saw the town up ahead. "Well first of all I have to create an oh-so-fun diversion." She howled like an actual wolf and the people in the town became scared as they fled. "That was easy," she smirked as she walked toward the stands and picked up some food.

Leoko looked around as he walked next to Mikita. "Damn, that was too easy." He pouted a bit. "No fun at all, but I'm hungry now so I don't care," he stated as he took a bunch of food. Mikita smirked. "That's my benefit. Sometimes it's too easy." She was interrupted by the arrow of an angry villager being shot into her leg. "Ow! Mother f..." She paused when she saw a line of angered villagers standing with their weapons ready to shoot her and Leoko. "Well at least it's fun now..." Leoko grinned and made a giant ice ball. "Ten bucks says I can knock them all out in one shot." Mikita smirked. "You're on." Leoko threw the ice ball as it hit them and exploded at deafening speeds, killing all but one. Leoko glared at the last one standing. "Well shit. Stupid guy." He gave Mikita ten bucks. "You're lucky." He pulled out his bow and fired, killing the last one. Mikita smirked. "Yep." She walked over to one of the dead guys and took his wallet. "I might as well take his money for him. It's the least I can do." She chuckled and then felt something strange on her leg still. "Oh yeah. That arrow..." She sighed. "Well this will be a pain in the ass to remove."

Leoko smiled at her. "No not really. Watch." He used his waterpowers to gently remove the arrow. "Tada!" Mikita stared at him and paused briefly before she smiled a little. "Well hey, thanks." She bent over and healed her wound. She then felt a stinging in her butt. "OW!" She had gotten shot with a tranquilizer by the policeman that was watching them. "I GOT HER!" he screamed out and called out for the other officers. "Not again!" Mikita shouted a bit. She was soon overwhelmed with sleepiness as she smiled faintly in delusion. "I'm... sleepy." She then fell over asleep/unconscious. Leoko rolled his eyes with a grin. "I have to save you again? Jeez!" He ran over and dropkicked the officer near him. He then ran over and picked up Mikita as he sprinted off towards the cave. He was shot in the leg with one of the tranquilizers, but he fought it off until they got to the cave, though it was hard for him to accomplish. He closed off the entrance of the cave with his last ounce of consciousness before he passed out and fell over backwards, Mikita lying on top of him.

When Mikita opened her eyes, she saw this and turned red. "Uhh..." She couldn't move however, since the effects hadn't fully worn off yet. Leoko woke up a bit later and looked around. "Oh... my head." He then noticed Mikita on top of him and he turned red too. "Umm... hi. I guess I got you to safety... heh." Mikita tried to get off of him, but she still couldn't move as she sighed. "Yeah, but now we're stuck like this for a while..." She could barely move one finger as she strained to move. Leoko could move maybe the end of his pinkie, but that was about all. "Yep... this is very awkward."

Mikita's head was rested on his chest as she sighed. "Indeed." She felt his heartbeat on her ear and paused to pay attention to it. "Interesting. Why is your heart so off tempo and fluttery at the moment?" Leoko got even redder. "Umm... uhh..." He didn't know what to say since he realized that he may have had a small crush on her. He shook his head. _I couldn't... do I? ...Nah_, he thought to himself. Mikita still laid there on him and was now able to move more of her fingers. "Oi, this is gonna be a while..." Leoko lightly nodded. "Yes... it'll be a long while." He noticed that he could now bend his neck as he looked in front of him instead of just straight up. "Wow... I can see anyway." Mikita sighed. "Good for you." She laid there and tapped her claws on the ground of the cave. Her eye twitched. _I do not like these strange feelings I'm having. I so wish I could get up..._ she thought to herself, a bit shy about the situation and how wrong it seemed.

Leoko looked around nervously. "Yeah, we have a while yet before we can move our legs so..." He paused and blushed. "I don't know what to say. The awkwardness of this situation and how I feel about y..." He stopped himself there. Mikita turned a bit red as well. _He likes me?_ she thought in confusion. _This is oddly different... Well maybe I... NO! I DO NOT FEEL EMOTIONS! _She was arguing with herself in her mind. Leoko remained silent as he felt his heart thumping in his chest. Mikita tried to move herself. She pushed up with her arms and she got somewhat of the way up. However, she was too weak to hold herself up any longer or get any further as she slipped a bit and landed face-to-face with him, and it looked as if she were about to kiss him. She was now beet red and embarassed. "Uhhhh..."

Leoko was surprised as well as he stared. "Umm... Oh what the heck? Might as well." He kissed her on the lips quickly and then closed his eyes, prepared to get the beating of his life. Mikita's eyes widened and she paused. It didn't take too long for her to find the will to jump up and run across the other side of the cave. She was very red and embarassed as she stared at him in surprise. Leoko just laid there. "Wow... that's not the reaction I was expecting. Well actually, that's exactly the reaction I was expecting." He chuckled and soon found that he could move his arms now, but he still couldn't get up. "Damn... oh well. I'll just sleep here." He closed his eyes and Mikita still stared at him in surprise and terror. _What just happened? Why did he...?_ She put one finger on her lips and recalled the kiss, since she couldn't believe he did that. She shook her head and tried to forget it.

Leoko could finally move most of his body as he rolled over and left his legs limp. He kept one eye thinly opened to keep an eye on Mikita. Mikita was staring at the floor of the cave with wide, blank eyes. She didn't move from that spot for quite a while, since she was so shocked.

Leoko didn't say anything for a long time. When he could finally move rather well, he got up and stood there. "Umm... was it that bad?" Mikita looked at him. "I said I didn't care if you hung around here. I never said you could pull something like that." She was almost glaring at him. Leoko just sighed and fell back into a sitting position. "Okay..." He then laid back down and fell asleep. Mikita kept a close eye on him for a bit, and then she sighed in slight aggravation as she walked outside the cave. She looked up at the clouds as she stood there. Leoko ignored Mikita as he lay there in thought. _I tried, but I guess it just wasn't meant to be. _Mikita was going through her own thoughts. _I don't know what else to say to him. Why should I even care? I mean, what is this feeling that's still bugging me? _She asked herself in her mind then about how she felt when he kissed her. She paused and pondered on it.

Leoko was now fast asleep, snoring lightly. Mikita cringed at the sound as one of her ears went back. _Ugh, one of my pet peeves... _She growled on the inside. _First my father, this dude's father, and now this dude? What else could go wrong? _As she was thinking this, it began to pour down rain soon after. She sighed as her bangs dripped wet upon her forehead. "I just _had _to ask..."

Back from the flashback: Mikita looked at Leoko. "I still can't believe you did that." She laughed a little. "I could have killed you if I weren't so creeped out and confused." Leoko looked at her and grinned. "It got you off of me didn't it?" Mikita smirked back. "But that's not why you did it." Leoko paused for a moment and looked at her. "...And your point is?" Mikita laughed. "I don't even know if I have one. It's just fun to mess with you." Leoko laughed as well. "Yeah I guess so." He leaned back and looked at Mikita with a grin. "You liked it and you know it." Mikita blushed lightly. "Maybe I did... but you don't know that." Leoko blushed a bright red and looked ahead. "Oh... well ummm... I'm glad you did." Mikita twiddled her fingers. "Yeah..." She then looked over at Zoro and remembered that things weren't the same anymore as she stood up. "Well I'm going to go bug Sanji to fix me something to eat now." Leoko nodded. "Okay then. Go for it." He sighed as he looked away. He missed how things were before, and he knew that Mikita did too, but now she had moved on and started anew. He had yet to begin himself a life anew, which he had always wanted.


	28. Chapter 28

A week passed by and Zoro seemed to drift away from Mikita more and more. She sometimes tried to approach him and he would simply smile faintly and walk on. This would leave her standing there in confusion. She was beginning to wonder about this, but she just ignored it and let him go to train off of the Merry. _Why won't he pay attention to me? Is he mad at me about something? If so, he's been keeping it from me for quite some time now. _She stood there in thought as she watched him train near the Merry on the island. Zoro lifted a boulder above his head with one hand. "837..." Mikita just sighed and continued to watch him as she wondered more on his actions. Zoro himself wasn't aware of what he was doing, since it was very gradual. He hadn't noticed the change. Mikita however was greatly affected by it. She felt neglected and the saddening separation that was occurring from their time apart was getting to her. He didn't even seem to care.

After a while, Zoro finished his training and walked back onto the ship. He smiled at Mikita as he passed. Mikita lightly smiled back, but as soon as he had passed, her smile turned to a frown again as she sighed. Leona was sitting on deck and eating one of Sanji's muffins. Sanji smiled as he walked towards her with a second tray, twirling slightly on one foot as he delivered it. "Here you are Leona-swan." He at least was trying to get things back to the way they had been before. Leona couldn't help but to giggle at him. "Thanks Sanji." She accepted the food and gave a light smile. She seemed to be lessening in her grudge. Sanji smiled back, hearts in his eyes before he walked off. He had, noticeably, devoted a lot more attention to Leona than any of the other girls on the ship recently. Not to say he'd ignored them, but he seemed to have been focused on Leona. Leona had noticed this as she smiled a bit while watching him leave. _He seems to be trying to like only me... _She blushed a little. _He's actually trying... _

Karasu read their minds and smiled warmly. She then went back to her competition with Luffy. She had her hands behind her back as she smirked at Luffy. She then brought out both hands as fists and had the back of her hands facing up, next to each other. "Okay, which hand's it in?" Luffy blinked. "That one!" He pointed at Usopp's hand. Karasu grinned. "Nope. You lose." She threw the pebble in her right hand at him and laughed. Luffy frowned. "Awww..." Leona smiled at them and went back to eating the muffin. While she ate another bite, she went into a deep train of thought and recalled when she had given up her bracelets. She had also recalled when she had given them to Mikita. She then held the memory of the mistake of jumping too far too soon with Sanji, and this made her frown, yet blush. She looked out at the waters and continued to shift through her thoughts.

Chopper walked over to Leona. "What is it Leona?" She looked over at the reindeer. "I'm just thinking, that's all." Chopper blinked. "You're going red. Do you have a fever?" He put up a paw to check Leona's forehead. Leona sweatdropped. "No I'm just... nevermind." Chopper blinked. "Is it another kind of illness then?" He paused. "AHH! Leona! Are you dying?" Usopp heard this, sadly. "AAAHHH! LEONA'S DYING!" Luffy turned. "WHAT? LEONA'S DYING?" Karasu looked. "SHE IS? OH SWEET JESUS, DO THE HEIMLICH!" Leona sighed and shook her head. "No I'm not dying! I'm daydreaming!" She then paused and realized what she had just said. Chopper blinked. "Oh. Okay. But... why are you red?" Usopp narrowed his eyes. "And what were you daydreaming about?" Luffy thought that he was supposed to ask a question as well. "And what kind of meat is Sanji going to make tonight?" Karasu smiled at Luffy's question. "I hope it's chicken." Leona just made an aggravated sound as she stood up. "Forget it." She then walked onto the shore of the island.

Luffy shook his head. "It should be steak!" Nami watched them in disgust. Karasu looked away. "Chicken is better." She crossed her arms. Luffy shrugged. "But steak is more professional! And it's more filling!" Karasu glared and pouted. "Well I want CHICKEN! And besides, I'll win anyway with Sanji since I'm me and I'm too cute." She shook her booty tauntingly. Luffy blinked. "Well, maybe Mikita will want steak." Karasu smiled. "I'll ask. HEY MIKI! DO YOU WANT CHICKEN?" Mikita nodded. "Sure, why not?" Karasu smirked at Luffy. "I win." Luffy looked at Mikita. "DO YOU WANT STEAK!?" Mikita shrugged. "Yeah. That too." Luffy laughed. "See!" Karasu smirked and looked back at Mikita. "Which do you want more though?" Mikita looked at them, and to both of their disappointments, she replied, "I want hamburger." Karasu sweatdropped at this. Luffy looked out at Leona. "HEY! LEONA! WHAT'S BETTER STEAK OR CHICKEN?" Leona looked at them. "Steak." Karasu rolled her eyes. "Chicken haters." Luffy laughed at Karasu. "I win!" Karasu just rolled her eyes and looked away. "Hmph!"

Mikita still had the actions of Zoro and the feelings of Leoko in her mind as she stood alone on her side of the ship. Leoko didn't know what happened between Mikita and Zoro, but he noticed her standing alone and went over to stand next to her. "You okay?" Mikita looked at him. "Huh? Oh... yeah I'm okay. Just thinking about all kinds of shizzy. That's all." Leoko nodded and looked out towards the moving waters. "All right then, but if you ever need to talk about anything, I'll listen." That statement was more out of friendship than anything. He then sighed. "I'm hungry. You wanna yell at Sanji for some food?" Mikita shook her head. "Nah, I'm not hungry. Here, eat my muffin." She handed him her muffin and continued to think. Leoko looked at the muffin and shrugged. "Okay then. Thanks." He took a bite of it and looked at Mikita, then back out at the ocean. There was something she wasn't telling him, but he sighed and let it go, keeping the moment silent.

Flashback: Mikita remembered another incident that happened between her and Leoko. It was another memory of the sequential remembrance. She remembered the rest of that day when she was out caught in the rain. Leoko woke up and looked at her as he laughed lightly. "You want the rain gone?" Mikita walked back into the cave with the look of indifference. "No need." She shook the water off of her and flung it on Leoko, smirking on the inside but keeping a straight face. She had also put out the fire and she blinked at it. "Oh well, I can fix that," she shrugged and created another one with her firepowers. She then smacked her wet tail across his face and visibly smirked. "How do you like that rainwater?" Leoko shrugged. "I love being wet since, well it's my element."

Mikita rolled her eyes. "I can stand the wetness, as long as it isn't cold, and especially if it isn't ice." She then looked at him with a slightly sly grin. "So, what if I boil some water with my powers and pour it on you. What would happen then?" Leoko laughed. "I don't know. I would probably explode or something weird..." He looked at her curiously and cautiously. "You wouldn't ... really do that, would you?" Mikita just grinned and raised an eyebrow. "That's for me to know and for you to remain curious about." She sat near the fire and made the shape of a wolf in the flames by manipulating the fire with her powers. Leoko shrugged and sat down. "I'm not very curious anymore... and hey that's pretty cool." He made some of the rain turn into a watery fire, copying Mikita. "I can do that too."

Mikita nodded. "Interesting. You can manipulate water just as I can manipulate fire." She made another shape of two wolves, an adult wolf and a pup, playing in the flames, but this seemed to make her sad for some reason as her ears lowered. She released the control of the flames and laid back. "Well enough of that," she replied after regaining her normal careless expression back. Leoko looked at her. "Something wrong?" he asked with concern. Mikita shook her head. "It's nothing. Just forget it." It wasn't easy for her to talk about her feelings and she tended to get snappy on the subject. Leoko shrugged "Oh, okay then." He began to manipulate the water, creating what looked like a feminine version of Leoko. He smiled sadly and changed it to different creatures.

Mikita didn't notice this as she laid back with her eyes closed, most likely in thought of what was brought back to her memories. Leoko smiled at Mikita, but he soon shook it off and unsheathed his sword. He threw it into the side of the wall and ended up leaving it there due to laziness as he growled. "I'm going to sleep." He put his belongings in a water barrier. "So you don't steal them again." He closed his eyes to go to sleep. Mikita didn't hear him, for she was already in a sound sleep.

Leoko woke up a bit later. He looked around and noticed that everything was still where it was supposed to be. He smiled at Mikita as he watched her sleep. _Wow, she's so cute when she's sleeping. _He then made a strange face as he shook his head. What am I thinking? Suddenly, his necklace pendant began to glow a bright red as his eyes widened. "No... it can't..." He was controlled to walk over to Mikita as he started strangling her, tears falling from his eyes with the true emotions within. Mikita was startled out of her sleep and she grabbed onto his wrists, trying to make him let go. She couldn't breathe very well and she was struggling to get him off of her. She looked into his crying reddened eyes and thought, _Oh no... Not again... _Leoko paused and glared as his grip tightened.

"You should know by now not to let your guard down baby doll," Tsuyoku's voice stated from within Leoko. "My control is far from over." Mikita growled and struggled to breathe. "Sorry Leoko..." She apologized beforehand for jabbing her fiery claws into his arms while pulling them away from her throat. Any fire attacks on Leoko would negate the control that Tsuyoku had on him for the time being, since it was his weakness, but that small attack wouldn't hurt him all that much physically. Leoko's eyes went blue once again. "What the...?" His eyes instantly flashed red again as he pulled out a knife and slowly moved it toward Mikita's heart. Mikita held him back as well as she could. The tip of the blade was so close to jabbing her chest. "I don't want to have to do this..." She emitted more flames into his arms and kept the blade from her heart. "You will not win Tsuyoku!"

Leoko moaned in pain as his eyes flashed blue again. He was being weakened by the heat by now and soon his eyes began to glow red again as his hand became cold as ice. His hand gripped Mikita's lower face and pressed tightly, making her shout out and yelp in pain. For a bit longer, the pressure and grip only continued to increase, making it more painful. Finally, Leoko was able to fight off Tsuyoku, finding the will inside to protect Mikita and keep from harming her any longer. "Mikita... I'm sorry..." He held Mikita tightly and closely in his arms, not caring how she would react or what would happen. "I'm so sorry." Mikita just let out a few soft whimpers. She didn't return the embrace, nor did she fight against it.

Leoko held her a bit longer and comforted her, but then he blushed and let her go. "Heh, we'd better get your face bandaged. My hand did some nasty wounds to it." Mikita moved away from the hug and placed her hands on her face, healing her wounds. "I got it," she said neutrally. She then took hold of his right arm and began to heal it first. "Same goes for you and your arms here... but I had to stop it somehow... sorry." She rarely ever apologized to anyone, so this meant a lot coming from her mouth, even if it didn't sound as sincere as it could have. Leoko nodded. "It's okay. You did what you had to do to stop me. You did the right..." He paused and stared at her. "Did you just say _sorry_?" Mikita paused and looked at him. "Nope. You're hearing things." She then moved to his left arm and started healing it. Leoko smirked. "You did say sorry didn't you?" Mikita shrugged. "So what if I did?"

She noticed that she had scratched his left hand as well, so she took his hand into hers to heal it. "It doesn't mean..." This seemed awkward for her as she made eye contact with him. She paused for a moment and her sentence ended there, her cheeks lightly flushed. She soon tried to shake it off as she looked away from him and moved her hands away. "Looks like we'll have to keep a closer eye out for Tsuyoku's controls, since he hasn't ended it yet." She was deliberately changing the subject. Leoko had noticed it as well, feeling the emotions, but he tried not to let it show as he smiled and nodded. "Yeah, I guess I can't wear my necklace for a while either." He took it off and sat it down next to him. "I won't be able to use my waterpowers, but I guess I don't have any choice in the matter." He looked at her and noticed that she was a bit flushed in the cheeks. "What is it?" Mikita shook her head and looked away. "It's nothing... really." She was obviously not a good liar. "It's just... hot in here. That's all." That right there was an even bigger lie since she never got too hot that her cheeks flushed. Heat and fire was her element.

Leoko laughed. "I know you well enough to know that's a lie." He leaned a bit closer to her and smiled. "What is it that you're not telling me?" Mikita avoided this going any further as she stood up and walked toward the entrance of the cave. "Never mind it." Leoko shrugged. "Whatever. I'm going for exercise." He grabbed all except his necklace as he sprinted off. Mikita watched him leave and then she looked back at the necklace, as if to expect something evil of it. It just laid there on the ground and she sighed, or at least it just laid there for a short amount of time before it began to glow. Mikita stared at it with her fullest attention and guard.

Leoko returned after a while and saw her with her back turned. "Mikita, what are you doing?" He then realized that there was a red hue liquid dripping down. The necklace wasn't anywhere in his sight at the moment. Blood dripped from her chest and as she turned to face him, her own claws were jabbed into her chest. The necklace was now around her neck and her eyes were blankly blood red. She ripped her claws out of her chest and they dripped with the blood as she stared him in the eyes. Leoko stared wide-eyed. "Oh shit!" He ran and tried to grab the necklace, but it ended up electricuting him as he jumped back. "Zakata! I know you're around here! Leave Mikita alone!" There was the sound of evil laughter and Zakata walked out. "She is your love, no? Well I want you dead, and her father and I have agreed that if I help him kill her, then he will help me eliminate you... and what better way of killing someone than making them kill themselves?" Leoko glared at his father. "No she doesn't love me... I never had a chance anyway. Let her go damn it!" He then started attacking Zakata, who in turn copied his movements.

Mikita shook her head. "No..." She growled and then roared as she tried to fight it off again. The objective however wasn't to kill her, but to cause her pain and suffering while the necklace consumed her power and transferred to Tsuyoku. She couldn't use her healing powers either, so her wounds were still bleeding. Once the power consummation was complete, she would most likely die. Each time she tried to move her hands toward the necklace, she was controlled to move them away and her claws jabbed into another part of her body. They were now wedged within her arm as she tried to reach the necklace.

Tsuyoku appeared behind her in the shadows and grinned evilly from the powers that he was receiving, plus he was enjoying her suffering. "That's it. All your powers belong to me." Mikita was still trying to fight against his powers as she ripped her claws out of her arm and struck at him. Tsuyoku barely moved his head back in slight interest. "Well. Well. trying to fight back are we?" He threw her into the wall. "Give it up." Mikita's vision began to go blurry as she clenched her teeth. "Leoko..."

Leoko growled and jumped to put the necklace on himself, no matter how badly it were to shock him. He suddenly began losing his powers, but he was still able to control himself. He turned to Tsuyoku and slashed his throat. "You... bastard." Tsuyoku disappeared and Leoko fell to his hands and knees in weakness. The necklace stopped its shining, which was transferred to Tsuyoku's necklace. Tsuyoku's own necklace flew into the air and escaped after his body had dissipated, showing that the battle was far from over. Mikita looked at Leoko with squinted, weak eyes as she tried to stand up. "Leo... ko..." She then passed out before she could get to him.

Zakata saw them weakening as he smirked. "You die." He was about to decapitate Leoko with his axe, but Leoko found the strength to reach up and slash through his chest. Zakata also vanished, like a typical Tsuyoku move. It was definitely apparent that they were sharing powers, although Zakata's disappearance involved poofing into a cloud of crystalline.

Leoko looked over at Mikita and he crawled over to her, taking her into his arms and rubbing her back. "It's okay. It's okay. You just sleep now. It's okay." Mikita was still unconscious. Her body began to glow a light blue around it, showing that her energy had to be built up naturally on its own again before she could wake. Leoko looked at her and smiled. At least she's going to be okay. He looked down at his necklace. I can't wear this... not until I know for sure that the curse is gone. He took the necklace off and sat it beside him.

Mikita opened her eyes and looked at him, but not before flinching with the pain as she held her chest. "Is he... gone?" she asked lightly. Leoko nodded and smiled. "Yeah he's gone... you're safe now." Mikita moved her hand from the wound and revealed that she had already healed it. She wanted to get up, but her body was too weak from losing so much blood and spiritual energy. Much of her energy was trapped within Leoko's necklace and it would be too risky for her to try and absorb it back for herself. She would most likely absorb the evil aura within it as well. The only choice she had would be to relax and wait it out. She sighed and closed her eyes again as she remained in his lap.

Leoko held her and he was very weak from the draining as well. He would recover half as fast as Mikita, since he was half demon. He just held her there trying to comfort her. She had a strange feeling inside while lying there on his lap, so she made herself sit up and lean against the wall next to him. "At least I can move a bit now." Leoko nodded. "That's good. You must be getting better already... faster than me anyway. I can barely move my arms." Mikita looked at him. "I'm sure you'll get your movements back soon enough." As she looked back in front of her, she was recalling what Leoko said. _'I wouldn't have a chance anyway.' _That made her wonder, _Does he... have feelings for me? _She glanced at him quickly and soon looked away again with her thoughts. _No. He couldn't... could he? _She decided to try and stand up, but her legs wobbled and she ended up falling back into his lap. "Oof...!" She paused and looked at him a second, but then she growled at herself and tried to get up again.

Leoko took hold of her hand and pulled her down lightly to sit back down next to him. "Relax. It's okay." Mikita looked at their hands and blushed at the fact that he was holding her hand. She then smiled lightly and laced their fingers. "Okay..." She was shy about even holding his hand like this, but she seemed to like it though. She wasn't acting like her rude self around him at the moment. He was too kind to her for her to be cruel to him. Leoko smiled back blushing because she was being nice. She was actually holding his hand. _Does she... like me too?_ he thought. He decided to chance it as he put his arm around her shoulders gently. Mikita blushed a bit more and looked aside before anything more could happen between them. It was all new to her to even accept this much affection. Leoko smiled warmly, knowing that this was probably all the affections that he could give for now. "I'm sorry... if I'm making you nervous." Mikita remained reddened and shy. "It's okay..." She was too nervous to make any other advances, so this was as far as she would go for the time being. She glanced at him but quickly looked away again, not knowing what to say in the situation.

Leoko just smiled at her. He knew that this was probably the first time that a guy had ever shown her true affection, so he sat there with her holding her close to him as he held her hand. Mikita looked at their hands and slowly stroked the top of his hand with her thumb, as if to test if it was really happening or not. To her surprise she wasn't dreaming. She decided to chance looking at him and making eye contact. This only seemed to make her heart beat faster, something she had never had happen to her before. What was she to do? Leoko smiled and gazed into her eyes, waiting to see what she would do.

She just seemed to stare. Sit and stare. Her expression no longer seemed like a smile. She moved her eyesight to their hands and sadly pulled her hand away. She seemed to lightly sigh as she stood up and looked away. She didn't know what to tell him, so she simply walked outside, not knowing the right words. Something inside was bothering her. Leoko frowned a bit and looked down at his shoes.

Mikita looked at him sadly as she walked back inside the cave a few minutes later. She didn't know what to say to him, so she sat somewhat nearby him as she sat and looked down in thought, resting her chin on her propped up knee. Leoko didn't look at her. He couldn't, so he just looked away to the other side. Mikita just looked at her feet and finally she said, "I'm sorry..." Leoko looked at her. "Sorry? For what? You didn't do anything wrong. It was my fault if anything." Mikita sighed. "No... Prepare for the standard 'It's not you. It's me'." She looked at him. "You see... I just... can't."

Leoko looked at her. "Can't what? Care for someone? Why not? So what if you've had a hard time so far in life... why can't you trust me?" He was obviously hurt, which meant that he had really fallen for Mikita. "I..." He stopped and just glared as he stood up. "Nevermind. I don't want to know." He took a necklace out of his pocket and threw it on the ground. It was a bright blue and obviously made by Leoko for Mikita. He ran away from the cave, his feelings severely hurt. Mikita looked at the necklace and picked it up, holding it clamped in her hands close to her chest with her eyes closed tight. It had hurt her inside as well.

Leoko had gone to the beach as he looked out at the waters and knelt down. "Zakata... I give up. I know you can hear me... I surrender." Zakata appeared and instantly punched Leoko across the face, knocking him down. "Well. Well. Well. Poor thing. You're obviously heartbroken. What, did she deny you?" Leoko closed his eyes tightly. "Just kill me and get it over with." Zakata grinned evilly. "First I am going to torture you slowly and painfully. Then if you tell me where your cousin is afterwards, I'll give you a quick death. How is that dear son of mine?" Leoko obviously looked as if he didn't care anymore. "Sure whatever, just get me out of here." Zakata then took his son and they disappeared.

Mikita walked around outside the cave holding the necklace that he had made for her. She looked at it and thought about it. _He really loves me... Me of all people. I don't understand... _She then remembered something he said before he left._ 'So what if you had a hard time so far in life...? What, can't you trust me?' _Mikita sighed in sadness as she talked out loud to herself. "That's just it. I... I didn't think I could bring myself to trust a man..."

"And now you'll never get the chance," Tsuyoku stated as he came onto the scene. Mikita growled and glared at him. "What do you mean by that?" He smirked. "He's given up and doesn't care for his life any longer. It's all because of you dearest." Mikita glared. "You're lying. He wouldn't be so weak as to give up." He just shrugged. "Whatever you say Miss Miki, but I am indeed speaking the truth on this matter. He's already gone to give in to Zakata. Of course, what would it matter to you since you don't care for him? You could care less because you have no conscience or trust, so you won't even believe my words." He stepped closer to her. "So, are you willing to give up and die as well?" Mikita glared coldly. "Never in my life would I ever even consider such an idiotic choice." Tsuyoku smirked and created an orb that showed what was happening with Leoko and Zakata. Mikita watched it in shock.

Leoko was lying on the floor of the water palace, weak and beaten. His arm was severely bleeding and showing to the inside muscle and bone, plus there was a scar on his face. He lay there and moaned for what was only the first day of his torture. "Well... maybe I shouldn't have agreed to the torture, but... I don't know what to do anymore. My father is more powerful than when I last faced him." He glared as he mentioned him. "Most of my family is dead, my so-called 'friends' always betrayed me, and the only one I could care for and talk to doesn't believe me." He sighed. "I've made some stupid choices, but this... I'm not regretting." He said all of this out loud. Zakata used a powerful blast of water to slam Leoko against the wall. "Oh poor baby. Let me help you," he stated in sarcasm. He karate-chopped Leoko's clavicle, breaking it. Leoko cried out in pain as he lay there. Zakata smirked. "I never thought it would be so fun to kill you son... Now tell me where your cousin is and you will be granted a quick death as you wished." Leoko glared at him. "How can I trust you?" Zakata laughed. "Believe me, I've tortured you enough. I may want to kill you, but I'm not a cold man like that black-hearted Tsuyoku. I still have a bit of sentiment for fellow family." Leoko sighed. "Fine. Whatever. It's... not like I could oppose you anyway."

Mikita couldn't believe what she was seeing. "I can't believe this..." Tsuyoku smirked. "Yep. It's all your fault." Mikita stared darkly at him. "No... I can't believe you would put on a false illusion like this to make me mad and fall for such a stupid trick!" She slashed at him with her sword and he dodged it easily, throwing her aside roughly. "Aww, am I the one that diminished your trust baby girl?" He smirked. Mikita struggled to stand up and looked at the orb. _What if this is true though...? _She thought for a moment and then yelled, "LEOKOOOOOOOOO! DON'T GIVE UP ON MEEEE!" She yelled, hoping that it would reach him by soul and mind.

Leoko felt this inside, as if he had heard it, which made him look around. "What the...?" Zakata hit him to make him pay attention. "Shut up and tell me where he is!" Leoko kicked Zakata in response. "Don't slap me you bastard!" Zakata reached for his sword, but Leoko kicked it back. Leoko stopped and let out a sound of pain since he was too weak to fight his father. Zakata stared angrily. "You betrayed our deal." He grabbed his axe. "Fine then. I'm going to chop off your hands and feet, then slowly heal you while I do this so that you won't die until the end." Leoko screamed and the whole room froze over in a huge blast of light blue. Zakata was frozen over in a chunk of ice and so was Leoko, until he finally kicked out of it and looked around. "I'm still near the mountains..." He slowly walked a short distance before falling unconscious.

Mikita knew something was wrong, so she tried to run off and get to him. Tsuyoku blocked her way and grabbed her by the throat. "You're not going anywhere." Mikita struggled and was in for the biggest beating of her life.

After about ten minutes, he had done just as much to Mikita as Zakata did to Leoko. Her head was wounded, her chest and arms, her legs. Basically her entire body was cut up and she was bleeding severely. Tsuyoku didn't give her the chance to heal herself as he enjoyed her suffering. "Do you surrender Mikita?" She glared weakly at him, her vision fading. "No... I will never... surrender to you." Tsuyoku stabbed his sword into her stomach and she was on the verge of tears, though she was too hard-headed to show them and she held them back. "How about now?" Mikita was stuck on the brink of life. She felt that she had no choice. Plus, there was one thing she wanted to do before she died. "...Yes... I surrender..." Her father smirked. "Good." He jerked his sword out of her stomach and it was taking most of her strength and will to stay conscious. He took her and they zapped to where Zakata was. Tsuyoku threw Mikita into the room and looked at Zakata, unfreezing him from the icy prison. "She has finally given in."

Leoko woke up and he felt a strange sense. "Mikita... where...?" Leoko noticed that his wounds were healing rather quickly. "Whoa... Whatever." He shrugged it off and ran back to the fortress, busting through the door as he glared at both of them. "Leave her alone you bastards!" He looked at her for a moment, but then he refused and looked away again to glare at his father. Zakata drew his axe. "I thought you hated her..." Leoko looked down a bit. "I do, but she needs my help so I'm going to help her whether you like it or not." What Leoko said struck at Mikita's heart harder than any attack in her life. It was the first emotional heartbreak she had ever received, and this caused her yokai state to take over in a fury. Leoko didn't notice just yet as he stared their fathers down. "I don't need to win. I just need to slow you both down." Zakata lunged and came in for the attack. Leoko simply sighed and cut through his chest, making him vanish. He knew that wasn't the real Zakata as he smirked at Tsuyoku. "Looks like my father quit on you and left while he still had the chance. Looks like it's just me and you now."

Tsuyoku smirked at Leoko. "You do not stand a chance, even when it comes to me." He suddenly froze and coughed up blood. Mikita had used her last ounce of strength to jab her entire hand into his back, ripping away with her claws and grabbing his heart. She squished his heart and it busted, and this made him fall to the ground. Mikita's claws ripped out of him and she held his non-beating heart in her hand dripping blood. Her eyes were just as bloodshot red as the blood upon her hands and the heart of her father was. She was also covered in the blood of her wounds and she wouldn't last much longer. She coughed up a little bit of blood and she glared at the heart in her hand. Her eyes flickered blue and red as she tried to regain her control. "Leoko..." She fell to her knees weakly. Leoko walked over and knelt down. "Yes... Mikita?" Before she lost consciousness, she softly said, "I... trust... you." She then fell over unconscious and nearly dead from bloodloss.

Leoko smiled. "I know you do Mikita." He wrapped her up to slow the bleeding as he kissed her gently on the forehead and picked her up. He took her back to the cave as he lay her down gently and lay next to her, giving her a light hug to keep her warm. Mikita remained out cold for a long amount of time. Leoko just rested there with her thinking and watching for anyone to come to the cave. He looked at her and felt of her cheeks to see if she was alive. He heard her heart gently beating, which relieved him to let him know she was alive. He smiled and got up as he moved to another end of the cave.

Mikita was lying there on her side motionless for about an hour before she finally woke up and her hand twitched lightly. She made a low sound of discomfort as she strained to open her eyes. Once she was awake, she opened her eyes fully and thought that she was still in the lair where Tsuyoku was. She soon realized that she was safe back at the other cave and she internally sighed. Leoko looked at her. "You're awake... That's good." The thoughts of whether to fully forgive her or not mixed within his emotions. Mikita could tell that he was hurt. She was torn up inside as well and it was beating on her conscience. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath as she looked at him. "You're mad at me aren't you... for not being able to return the mutual sense of trust and affection..." She looked away with narrowed eyes. "It's not as easy for me as you think it is. All my life I've grown up to know only hatred and evil. I've never had someone to care for me. I... I never believed that there was even such a thing as that..."

Leoko didn't look at her, but he scooted a bit closer. "I'm not mad at you exactly... just confused." He looked at her. "And so was I, but I learned to adapt. From the nurture and care I saw around me, I knew it was out there." He had a faint smile. "When I was looking for my father... I was also secretly looking for someone to be there for me... someone to care for and to share my thoughts and feelings with." He lightly rested his hand on hers as he looked back down and let his hair cover his eyes. "And even though you didn't believe so before... I hope you do now." Mikita looked at him through the corner of her eye and then looked down in thought. "I can try..."

Leoko didn't look at her. He just sat there and looked down at the floor, expecting another rejection just as the first. Mikita smiled and took something out of her pocket. It was the necklace that he made for her. She put it on and sat closer to him, leaning on his shoulder. "I will treasure this so." Leoko felt something on his shoulder, and when he looked at her, he noticed the necklace around her neck as he smiled. He put his arm around her waist and leaned on her. "I'm glad. I'm glad... Thanks." Mikita nodded and remained there leaning on him. She was actually... comfortable. At first, it was awkward to her since it was all new to her, but then she reconsidered it again. It wasn't so bad after all.

Leoko held her for a long time, not wanting to move or let go of Mikita. He slowly started rubbing her back. "For once in a long time, I'm actually... happy." Mikita smiled. "I'm glad." She was still adjusting to the emotions and feelings, so she didn't exactly say the same just yet. It was all a learning experience to her. Leoko was still learning himself since he had never been in a serious relationship either. He just looked at her and felt the urge to kiss her, but he didn't want to ruin it so he just rubbed her back and scratched behind her ear. Mikita began to purr as he scratched behind her ear. Her tail started to wag and she smiled with her eyes shut. Leoko smiled as he continued to scratch behind her ear. He then leaned on her and kissed her cheek, looking away a bit as if to expect something horrible from her reaction.

Mikita paused when he did that. She didn't know what to say. After a bit of gathering her thoughts, she smiled lightly and patted his hand as she stood up. "Well, I'm going to go to sleep now. I'm still really tired and weak from all that." She went to lay next to the fire, not wanting the relationship to move too fast. Leoko nodded, understanding what she meant. "Okay. Good night." He went over to the opening of the cave and listened to the water falling. Mikita curled her tail around her legs as she lightly smiled, closing her eyes. "Night."

Back from the flashback: Mikita smiled at Leoko. "I remember that day... the day that I decided to give love a chance." She looked down. "I was so shy... so hopeless, but I finally got used to it... Look." She pulled a necklace out that was hidden under her shirt. It had been around her neck the entire time, the necklace that he had given her. She looked at him and smiled. "Now I remember where this came from... thank you." Leoko's eyes glistened. "You... you still kept it..." He smiled warmly. "You're welcome Mikita... and I was just as hopeless as you were." Mikita smirked. "You were more hopeless than I was," she taunted. Leoko rolled his eyes. "Believe what you want, but I was so more... prepared." Mikita smirked. "Sure you were." Leoko didn't say anything for a moment, but then he said, "Okay. Fine. I was extremely insecure and nervous the entire time." Mikita shrugged. "Eh, so was I." She smiled at him. "We had some good times though."

Flashback: Mikita woke up one morning and rolled over. She bumped into something... more like 'someone'. Leoko was lying next to her, sound asleep and snoring lightly. Mikita sat up in a start as she stared at him. I don't remember falling asleep next to him... Leoko woke up and stretched not too long after that as he looked up at her. "Good morning...What?" Mikita still looked at him. "How did you end up by me last night? Didn't you fall asleep on the other side of the cave?" Leoko smirked. "Was it a problem that I was cautious of you all night, thinking that your father might return? Plus... I was a bit lonely."

"Well you could have asked," Mikita stated. Leoko smiled. "Well for one, I'm too nice. Another thing, you were already fast asleep and I didn't want to wake you and for you to kill me now." He smirked and unfroze the entrance of the cave as he stretched. Mikita pointed her finger at him and opened her mouth to say something to him, but she just decided to keep that thought to herself as she sighed and stared at him flatly. She stood up and walked out of the cave. "I need to sharpen my claws." She extended her claws and slashed at a tree, chopping it down. "Nope. That won't do..." She walked over to the rock wall of the cave and smirked, scraping her claws down it so that it made an irritating, screeching noise. Leoko held his ears and leaned back. "Ahh! The noise!" He froze the cave entrance again to block the sound. "Ahh, peace and quiet." Now that he couldn't hear the irritance of the sounds, he thought about the fact of how he and Mikita were actually dating. Nothing had changed all that much, but he didn't really care at the moment as he shrugged, firing arrows against the ice.

Mikita just shrugged and walked over to a nearby tree, climbing up in it to relax on a thick branch. Leoko unfroze the ice and took his bow out of the cave with him. "I'm hungry. I'm gonna go get some food." He walked out into the woods, being as silent as he could be, looking for some good food. After he got a little ways along, Mikita hopped down from a tree branch in front of him. "You know, you should at least have enough sense not to go off alone like this. You're leaving yourself susceptible to danger from both our fathers." Leoko smirked. "If you wanted to come along, all you had to do was say so." Mikita rolled her eyes. "That's not the issue here." She casually walked alongside him.

Leoko twanged his bow while he walked along. He saw a deer out of the corner of his eye as he notched an arrow. When he launched the arrow, it exploded to his surprise. "Oops... wrong arrow. Oh well, it hit the target at least." He walked over and took the arrow out of the deer as he tossed it over his shoulder. He eyed Mikita every so often to make sure she was still there. Mikita was quite silent, but she was there, looking up at the sky as she walked. This wasn't too smart because she tripped and fell on her face. "SHIT!" She stood back up and paused for a moment before laughing at herself. Leoko was quiet for a bit, wondering how to react as he blinked at her. He then fell on the ground in hysterical laughter as he pointed at her and rollled around, holding his stomach as well. For some reason he found that extremely funny. Mikita stared at him with one eyebrow elevated as she blinked a couple times. She then shook her head with a smirk. "Such a late reaction."

Leoko continued to laugh as he started getting up again. "I had to think on it before I did anything." Mikita just glanced at him before looking back at the way in front of her that she was walking. Leoko carried the deer around on his shoulder as he looked at Mikita and back ahead in boredom. He then smirked as he made an ice slide and showboarded back to the cave. Mikita chuckled. "I'm not doing that for reasons unnecessary to mention." She was referring to her weakness of ice as she walked by it and into the cave, carrying a piece of cake and eating it. "At least I got to take a detour and find that one guy that said something about his daughter's birthday party..." She shrugged and yet again had no conscience on the matter. Leoko cut a piece of the cake. "You don't mind, do you?" Mikita smirked. "I might... You better watch it or I'll rip your head off." She then chuckled. "Nah, I'm teasing. I'm already full. You can take the half that says 'Hap Birt,' whatever that means." Leoko laughed lightly. "Don't mind if I do." He ate the entire piece in one bite as he stuffed it in his mouth.

Mikita looked at him. "Hey! Number one, that was my cake and you just ate it all... Number two, I was halfway serious with my threats." She stared him in the eye as if she were going to attack. Leoko backed away cautiously. "Umm... sorry. Heh." Mikita continued to stare darkly for a moment, but then she smirked. "Eh, doesn't matter. I was getting full enough anyway." She walked over near the fire. "Ah, nice warmth." Leoko stared blankly for a bit. "...Okay, that made perfect sense." He then shrugged and smiled sneakily as he froze the fire, making it perfect ice. "Whoa... it's like, frozen fire." Mikita leered at him and unfroze the fire with her powers. "My fire." Leoko just laughed and said, "A little paranoid are we?" Mikita shrugged. "Maybe..." She held her hands over the fire while keeping an eye on him, though she was sort of playing around now making him think she was seriously overly-cautious of her fire.

Leoko smirked, wanting to have fun as he froze the fire again putting it in a water barrier. "Tee hee..." Mikita poked him with one of her flaming claws as she smiled sneakily. It kind of hurt him, but it mostly tickled as he jerked. "Hey, cut it out. I'm ticklish." He then stopped and looked at her like 'oh no'. "No way, you wouldn't..." Mikita's mouth opened wide with a huge grin that turned to a sneaky smirk. Before long, she had Leoko pinned to the ground and was tickling him. Leoko was crying from all the laughter. "STOP! HAHAHAHAHA! NOOO!" He was wiggling like crazy and he accidentally punched Mikita from jerking around so much. Mikita shook her head a bit after the punch, but she then smirked and proceeded to tickle him. "Whatcha gonna do now huh? Come on. Do somethin'." she teased. Leoko smirked and froze Mikita's brain. "Okay I did something."

"LLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL..." Mikita began to drool and lean sideways. Leoko laughed and unfroze her brain. "I can do that at any time." Mikita held her head and growled, but then she put her hand on his forehead and burnt him. "And I can do that anytime." She glared and got off of him. Apparently she didn't like that too well. Leoko shook his head. "Oww..." He frowned as he walked over and sat next to her. "Did I hurt you," he asked in a serious tone. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to, seriously. I was just having fun, but I guess it got..." He paused and sighed. "I'm not very good at this." Mikita turned to him and put her hand on his forehead, healing his burn. "It's fine," she said with a half sincere tone and half irritated tone. Leoko smiled a bit. "Not to me it's not fine. I feel bad, even though it's just a small thing. Thanks for healing the burn."

Mikita looked at him thoughtfully and admirably in a way. "No one else would have ever said such a thing to me... You're so kind to me, and I still can't see why. I mean, I was an ass to you and all..." Leoko smiled. "Because I think you deserve kindness. Besides, I'm never mean to anyone anyway..." He smirked and added, "unless they deserve it." Mikita looked away. "But I do deserve it..." Leoko put his hand on her shoulder. "No, you don't. It's not your fault. It's your father's, not yours." He scooted a bit closer to her. "Don't blame yourself." Mikita glared sadly at nothing. "Well it's what brought along my hatred. That and my... never mind." Leoko just smiled and rubbed her back, trying to comfort her. "I won't ask since you obviously don't want to talk about it... I wish I could help more."

Mikita's eye slightly twitched when he rubbed her back. She wasn't used to such an affection, so it came on as a bit strange to her. She wanted to be something different than what she was, so she lightly smiled as she looked at him. "I-It's okay..." Leoko smiled nervously and stopped rubbing her back. "Oh, sorry." Mikita nodded. "It's fine. I just haven't had anyone to do that for me in years. My mother..." She cleared her throat. "My mother... she used to do that when I was a child." She seemed sad just mentioning this. Leoko frowned. "I'm sorry. I'm guessing that something happened to your mother. I won't ask since it causes you pain, so..." He held her hand within his own. Mikita swallowed. "Well it's not only that she... Well it was because... It was my fault." She closed her eyes. "I was the cause of her death."

Leoko looked at her with such sadness and sympathy. "I'm so sorry Mikita. I... I feel so bad." Mikita shook her head. "Don't be. It was an accident, but still..." She then shrugged and lightly smiled at him, trying to put it behind her. "It was in the past, so it doesn't matter anymore. This is now and... it's different." She seemed to have a warmer smile as she made eye contact. She didn't typically make eye contact, but she made an exception. Leoko smiled back as he looked into her eyes. "Yes it's nice to remember, but it's tough not to worry. My life is much different. I came from a lush family. Having everything I thought I desired here in a cave with it thundering out and with nothing but the clothes on my back... I'm still happier here." Mikita looked at him questioningly. "Why?" He smiled at her and replied, "It's all about how you put life into perspective, not by the shit you can get." He looked out at the rain. "The rain is an amazing thing if you think about it." Mikita smiled a bit more. "Yeah... it is."

Leoko smiled a bit more as he looked at Mikita again. "I like your smile. It's nice." He then looked away, nervous about getting lost in his words. This compliment made her feel special inside as she blushed lightly. "I know. You... told me before." Leoko laughed nervously. "I did? Heh... sorry. Uhh..." He blushed a little as he looked at Mikita. "I guess I'm a bit nervous... I've never been in this kind of relationship before." Mikita's smile turned a bit nervous as well. "Heh, me either obviously." She sat there with her legs crossed and holding her feet with her hands. She didn't know what was supposed to happen, if anything. Leoko smiled as he fiddled with the hem of his shirt. He was obviously confused on what to do.

Mikita sat there silently for a bit and she finally stood up. "Well... I think I'll... lay down or... something." Leoko just nodded. He really wanted to show her how he felt, but he was too nervous to show it. Mikita was walking off, but then she turned back. "Oh and Leoko..." He looked at her. "Yes Mikita?" Mikita walked over and didn't let herself have any doubts or second thoughts. She made their lips meet and gave him a short kiss. She slowly parted and paused, as if she didn't know what she had felt from it. She finally nodded slowly after getting over the strange shock she felt inside. ""Well... good night..." She seemed nervous about what she had just done, since she had never done such a thing before as she stood up. Leoko's first reaction was shock. He didn't expect for that to happen. He then smiled lovingly at her and replied, "Yes... good night to you too." He then laid down and thought, _Wow... maybe she does love me. _

Back from the flashback: Leoko looked at Mikita. "Why did you do that anyway?" he asked with curiosity. Mikita shrugged. "I wanted to see what I felt. It's the same thing I did to Zoro," she chuckled a bit. Leoko seemed to frown a little, but he then smiled and stood up, putting his hand on her shoulder. "I'm glad you're happy now Mikita." He walked off and her smile turned to a frown. "Yeah... happy." She sighed and rested her head on her arms that were folded on her propped up knees. _I know Zoro loves me, but... we're drifting. I wish I knew why. He won't even answer me about it. There's just something he's not telling me... and Leoko is... _She sighed and ended her thoughts there as she stared blankly at the floor of the ship. She then looked up into the sky, watching the sun fade into the distance to end another day.


	29. Chapter 29

Mikita was sitting alone in a secluded area of the forest, watching the water go by. Her hair moved gracefully in the gentle breeze and she thumped her tail gently, tapping it on the ground. Her ear tilted toward the direction of a sound behind her. As she turned back, she found out who it was. "Leoko..." He smiled at her and took a seat beside her. "What are you doing out here all alone?" Mikita smiled at him. "Enjoying the view of nature. What else? It's calming." She looked back out at the waters.

Leoko looked at her and said, "I know there's something else... something on your mind." Mikita nodded, still looking out at the water. "Yeah I guess so..." He looked at her a bit sadly. "He doesn't seem to feel the same for you anymore..." Mikita closed her eyes and aimed her head downward. "No... He doesn't." Leoko then took her chin and made her look into his eyes. "But I do." He had the look of a desire to kiss her, and she fell weak to this emotion as he carefully moved her face toward his. He seemed to be truthful of his love for her that remained, and she couldn't help but to feel the same in the tender moment. Before their lips could meet, Mikita opened her eyes and all of this was actually a dream.

Mikita was in the bird's nest alone as she blinked sleepily and looked around her. "A dream...? Where's...?" She looked down from the bird's nest and saw Zoro sleeping at the mast instead of up there with her. Her expression saddened a bit as she sighed. _It seems like what Leoko said in my dream was true... _She looked to the left to see Leoko lying on another end of the ship, stretched out and casual with his arms behind his head. He didn't appear to be asleep, but at rest with his eyes closed. Mikita just looked at him and remembered what she had just dreamed. She felt the mark on her shoulder, the mark that bound her to Zoro, as she shook her head. _No, Zoro still loves me. I know he does. _Zoro was still asleep, and said nothing about this.

Meanwhile, Leona was talking to Sanji, as they used to do before things got out of hand between them. They were talking about a subject that Sanji knew all too well. "So, when you flip a fish, it supposedly makes you a better cook with more style or something?" Leona asked in curiosity. Sanji thought for a second. "No, not really. It just shows that cook's confident." Leona nodded. "Ah, I see. It's like the fancier way to flip the fish other than using a spatula," she giggled. "I'd have to use a spatula or I'd dump the fish in the floor... or it'd stick to the ceiling." Sanji smiled. "I'm sure you're a great cook Leona-swan." Leona smiled back. "Thanks San-San." She looked away after a bit, not knowing what else to say at the moment. She wasn't even entirely sure of what she felt for him as of now.

Sanji lit up a cigarette looking out at the ocean. "Do you miss your home, before you came with us?" Leona shook her head. "No... not really. Being out here on the ocean is a new adventure everyday. It's always full of experiences, new ones that I can find each day." She looked at him and smiled faintly. "It's part of what I wanted in life... aside from my dream." Sanji smiled. "I'm glad for you Leona-swan." Leona nodded. "Yeah..." She smiled on the outside, yet on the inside she frowned. She hadn't accomplished her dream. Her true dream, to be someone's number one. She thought she had that with Sanji, but then it all went downhill from one point. Will that relationship ever be re-developed?

Karasu was always accomplishing more of her dream each day. "Look! Another cutie!" She ran across the island to a random guy as she rubbed his abs. Of course he freaked out as he froze in place and blinked at her with wide, shocked eyes. Luffy chose that point to try and follow Karasu with the Gomu Gomu no Rocket, resulting in the unfortunate man to be hit flying. Karasu frowned. "Aww, you hurt the cutie... Oh well. Let's go find more." She took Luffy by the arm and led him away with her.

Leona stepped off of the Merry and looked out at the island. She had yet to explore it. She thought for a bit and looked back at Sanji. "Hey... you wanna come with?" Sanji smiled hearts in his eyes. "It would be an honor Leona-swan!" Leona smiled. "Let's go then." She walked alongside him as she asked, "So do you think you'll find some good food to cook here?" Sanji smiled. "As long as it's edible." Leona pointed ahead of them. "Look. There's a little shop up ahead. Let's go see what they have." Sanji smiled. "Okay!" Leona smiled at his happiness and walked along with him to the place specified. She took in the smells of the food that smelled so delightful. "Mmm, I love that smell..."

A man looked at her in the stand. "I suppose that is the barbecue chicken you smell ma'am." Leona smiled. "Yeah, it is." Sanji smiled. "I'll take three." The man nodded and bagged three of the chickens. "That'll be sixty beli please." Leona nodded and took out her wallet, handing him the money for the chicken. Sanji smiled and stopped Leona from taking the money out of her own purse and then paid with his own. Leona looked at him. "Sanji..." She seemed amazed by his kindness and offer to pay for it himself. She looked down and smiled warmly as she put her money away once more. The man accepted the payment and Leona took the chicken.

As they walked along again, Leona thought and said, "Thanks Sanji... you know, for being so sweet." Sanji's eyes became hearts once again. "Anything for you Leona-swan!" Leona giggled at this, the way she used to before when they had first met. She smiled as she walked on and said, "Come on. Let's go see what else there is." Sanji followed Leona happily. Leona walked alongside him as she looked around at all the sights around her. Her hand touched his briefly and she blushed. "Ohh, umm... sorry. Heh." She put her hands in her pockets and walked on. Perhaps unknown to Leona, Sanji had blushed as well.

Leona smiled and continued walking on. She soon noticed a nice spot out by the river as she pointed at it. "Oh look! There's a bench over by that lake. It looks so peaceful over there." She went and sat in the bench, listening to the running waters of the river. Sanji then came and sat down next to Leona with a vibrant smile. Leona smiled back at him. "Doesn't it sound lovely here?" She looked back at the waters with a calm smile. Sanji gave a slight nod. "It really does." He was tempted to put his arm around her, but resisted the urge. He'd worked hard just to reestablish his friendship with Leona, so he didn't want to risk shattering it yet. Leona was still looking out at the river as she put her hands on the bench on each side of her.

Sanji watched Leona's eyes. In times like these, he expected her gaze to seem clouded, almost lost. However, her eyes were calm and admiring, looking out at the nature scene before them. She then looked over at Sanji and made eye contact. "What is it?" she asked. A smile was all that she was met with. "It's nothing. I'm merely admiring your beauty Leona-swan." It was a standard Sanji remark. Instead of going off into a speech about number ones and other girls, she simply smiled back and scooted a bit closer to him as she blushed and looked back out at the waters. Sanji barely resisted the urge to leap up in joy.

Leona sat there quietly and calmly for a bit longer before she stood up and looked at him. "Ready to go then?" Sanji had a look of slight dissapointment on his face, but quickly hid it. "If you want to Leona-swan." Leona then smiled warmly and took hold of his hand, walking alongside him. Sanji's blush grew more and more pronounced. Leona noticed this and giggled as she laced their fingers. "Something wrong San-San?" Sanji shook his head vigorously.

Leona smiled and walked on, looking ahead of her as she asked, "Anything else you would like to do before we head back to the Merry?" Sanji nodded emphatically. "Yes!" Leona blinked. "Well okay then... What is it?" Sanji suddenly blushed. "I mean, don't you just want to sightsee for a bit?" Leona smiled and nodded. "That sounds nice." She held his hand a bit tighter, enjoying his kindness to her. Sanji smiled. "Ah, that's good!" Leona chuckled. "So, where shall we go? I took us to the first destination and the second. Your turn to find somewhere you want to go." Sanji looked out and smiled. "I've heard there's a great lookout around here somewhere." Leona smiled back. "Sounds lovely. Let's go. Lead the way."

Sanji slowly led her through the cities winding streets. Leona smiled at him occasionally and admired the sights around them. Sanji finally found the lookout. It was situated on a rather high hill, outside of the town. Leona saw it and asked, "Is that it?" while pointing to it. Sanji nodded. "It fits the description I was given." Leona smiled as they walked on. "Well let's go. I can't wait to see what it looks like from there." Sanji nodded and followed her up to the lookout. They'd made perfect timing, and the sun was setting in a brilliant sunset just as they arrived. The hues of pink, purple, and orange mixed in with the blue color made it all the more magnificent. Leona looked at the sunset in amazement and awe. "It's so beautiful." Sanji smiled, standing a little bit behind Leona. "It's probably more beautiful from my perspective." Leona looked at him behind her. "Sanji..." She stopped her sentence and laughed a little as she shook her head. She didn't seem to mind the perverted comment all that much. Sanji gave a huge grin.

Leona smiled and looked out at the sunset once more. She sighed in contentment as she said, "Sanji..." She then looked at him. "Why are you being so sweet to me?" She turned and faced him, awaiting his answer. Sanji gave her a winsome smile. "It's how I was raised. I've always been raised to be kind and respectful to women." Leona smiled bashfully. "Well... thanks." She leaned in and gave him a short, soft kiss on the lips. She parted and smiled at him, making eye contact. Sanji waited until Leona had turned around, before doing a classic anime jump for joy. Leona gazed upon the wonders of the natural sunset with a light smile on her face. Sanji walked over to Leona, and then took her hand. Leona laced their fingers as she smiled at him. The response was another wide, winsome grin from the cook.

Leona smiled warmly and asked, "So, do you want to stay here longer or head back now?" Sanji gave an indifferent shrug. "It doesn't matter to me, Leona-swan." Leona held hia hand tighter. "Let's stay then... enjoy the moment you know?" Sanji nodded. "That sounds great."

Meanwhile, Mikita was looking off the railing of the ship, thinking of her dream and of Zoro. _I just wish I knew what was going on with him. _She sighed a low sigh and stared on. "2005... 2006... 2007..." Zoro was doing weight lifts with a set of four hundred pound dumbbells. Mikita looked over at him and decided to confront him. "Hey Zoro..." Zoro turned to look at her. "Yeah?" Mikita smiled a bit. "Do you want to go for a walk or something?" Zoro shook his head. "Sorry, I'm just a bit busy at the moment." Mikita frowned a bit. "But... we haven't spent any time together lately..." Zoro looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "I could've sworn we have." Mikita shook her head. "No. Everytime I ask you if you want to do something, you always say that you're busy with something... like now." Zoro shook his head. "Then you've just been getting unlucky. If you can ask me when I'm not busy I'd be happy to." Mikita nodded and turned away, walking off as she thought, _He usually stops what he's doing to be with me though... _

Karasu was finding even more 'cuties' on the island as she put them all in a cave. She stroked one's abs and said, "Yep, you'll do." She threw him in the cave with the rest of the ones she had found. One of the men touched Karasu's butt as she walked by. The reaction was a scratch across the face. "Did I say you could touch me?" The men just blinked at her, confused with why she had them there. Luffy was following Karasu around, but had lost sight of her. He ended up coming across the cave. "WOAH! CAVEMEN!" Karasu smiled at Luffy. "Look! I have a cutie stash!" One of the men groped her again as she sighed. "Perverted cuties. They obviously have my intentions mixed up." She bonked the man on the head, then said, "All right guys! Line up!" They blinked amongst themselves and shrugged, doing as she requested. They lined up against the wall as she looked at them. "All right, now take off your shirts..." They took off their shirts and Karasu observed them.

After a bit of observing them, she pointed at one. "That one! He's got the best abs!" The men sweatdropped, but the man she had pointed at smirked. Luffy blinked. "So does that mean he's the best?" Karasu shrugged. "It means he's the cutest because he's got the best abs." They all blinked at her logic, and they were even more confused when she said, "If only he had skaterboy hair..." Luffy blinked in confusion. "But what's so good about being cute?" Karasu looked at him flatly. "What's so bad about it?" She smiled and grabbed Luffy's arm as she walked out of the cave. "Bye cuties!" she said as she waved at them.

While Leona and Sanji spent their time together, and Karasu dragged Luffy around with her on her silly outings, Mikita sat alone and pondered on why Zoro might have been acting the way he was. It saddened her to even think that he might not care, but she couldn't help but to let it recur in her mind. _What if he's getting tired of me?_ she thought. "Mate troubles again Mikita?" Leoko asked as he approached her, standing next to her. Mikita looked up at him and sighed. "Yeah... that obvious?" Leoko nodded and sat down next to her. "Yep, pretty much. So where's he at now?" Mikita shrugged. "I dunno, probably out somewhere training." Leoko grinned. "Shows how much you are concerned." Mikita looked at him somewhat flatly. "I am concerned. It's Zoro who isn't concerned enough." Leoko blinked and replied, "Okay..." Mikita looked away and folded her arms. "Sorry, I am just a little... annoyed, I guess you can say."

Leoko smiled as he stood up, coming up with an idea. "Come on, you need to get off the ship for a while. Get out and explore, you know?" Mikita smiled at him as she nodded and stood up. "That's a good idea Leoko." She hopped off the ship and Leoko followed soon after. They walked alongside each other as they talked about the good old days. Mikita laughed as she said, "Remember when we went swimming and you tried to dunk me under the water? I burned your ass for that one." Leoko nodded as he chuckled. "Yeah, and then I just froze you." Mikita shivered at the thought. "Yeah, I remember that all too well..." He smirked at her as they walked on, remembering more of the past.

Flashback: Leoko woke up one morning as he yawned. He didn't get much sleep. He was always in thought about Mikita and it was different for him. He had never liked someone so much before. Leoko rolled over onto his back and looked up at the ceiling, still in thought about what she had done the previous night before going to bed. Mikita was sleeping just fine, or at least she seemed to be. She opened her sleepy eyes in the morning and made a low sleepy sound. She then paused and blinked as she thought, _Wait... did I dream that? Whoa, I didn't... I do weird things when I'm sleepy._ She sat up and shook her head of the thoughts of the previous night, still unsure about them. Leoko noticed that she was awake as he smiled over at her. "Good morning. How are you today?" Mikita looked over at him and blinked. "I'm... fine, I think..." She didn't know how to react to him now. Leoko chuckled at her and cocked his head. "Something wrong?" Mikita quickly shook her head. "No. No... nothing at all." He grinned at her and asked, "You sure?" Mikita just nodded in response.

Leoko then sat up and stretched. "All right, well what do you want to do today?" Mikita grinned widely. "I want to murder. What about you?" He laughed as she said this. "Okay, sure. Let's go!" He grabbed his sword and bow as he jumped up. "Woot! Fun! Fun!" Mikita smirked and got up. "YAY!" She then dashed out of the cave. Leoko laughed and sprinted after her. Mikita yelled out in excitement about a murder spree. Leoko smirked and jumped into a village. "Freeze!" He froze everyone and poked them, making them fall over and chatter. Mikita blinked. "Wow. When you said that, you meant that literally huh?" She smirked and poked him with her flaming claw. "OOH BURN!" Leoko responded with a slight jerk when she poked his side with her claw. "Ow..." He then smirked at her and replied to her question. "Yeah I did huh?" He felt his side getting warmer as he said, "Is it hot over here or is it just me?" He touched the burn spot and it fizzed. "Yep, it's just me." Mikita chuckled. "That's the first time I've seen a burn spot fizz." Leoko nodded. "And it will be the last time."

He kept poking people as he sighed. "This is too easy. Maybe I shouldn't have frozen everyone." Mikita shrugged. "I can fix that." She then scorched the frozen people with her firepowers and sent them into shock. "Oops... Maybe it was that easy." Leoko stared at them. "Oh well... OH WELL YAYA!" He ran up a building and fell back down. "Ouches..." Mikita giggled. "Such randomness." She then smirked. "Let's go to a restaurant and 'buy' a lunch... then murder them when they mess up our meal." Leoko grinned maliciously. "And I know just how to mess them up."

Leoko walked with her to a nearby restaurant, holding her hand as they walked in. Mikita blushed lightly and laced her fingers around his. He smiled at her and looked at the waitor. "Table for two please." The waitor nodded and said, "Right this way." He led them to their table and Leoko let go of her hand to help her be seated. He took a seat himself and looked at the waitor when he asked, "Let me know when you are ready to order sir." Leoko looked at him and replied, "I already know what I want." The waitor nodded and took out his slip of paper, prepared to write it down. Leoko smirked lightly, then put on a straight face as he said, "I would like a filet mignon cooked to perfection and a diet water please."

The waitor was completely confused, but he nodded and wrote it down, not knowing that his life was on the line. "Diet water... okay..." He shrugged a bit and looked at Mikita. "What would you like miss?" Mikita lightly chuckled at Leoko and then looked seriously at the waitor. "I would like some sake and napkins without caffeine, hold the sake." She smirked on the inside, but kept a straight face. Leoko couldn't help but snicker at the waitor's confusion. Leoko smirked as he watched the waitor walk into the kitchen, then he looked at Mikita and held onto her hand again. "They are so dead." Mikita smirked. "Yeah. I thought I should get in on the prank too, ya know? Fun fun." She smiled and swung her hand with his. Leoko grinned. "We have such evil pranks, but you're right. It's soooo much fun." He looked at their hands for a bit, then looked into her eyes.

Mikita stared into his eyes for a moment, but then she broke the moment as she heard the waitor yelling. "Ha, he's so lost huh?" Leoko laughed lightly. "I would too if someone asked me for a napkin to eat." Mikita chuckled. "Who said I wanted it to eat? All in the art of confusion my friend... err, my uhh, are we friends... or what are we?" She seemed a bit stumped at how to put that. Leoko thought about it. "I don't know... We're friends and yet, we're more than that." This was stopped when the waitor brought them their food. Leoko took a sip of his water and glared as he stood up, spitting water in the waitor's face as if it were disgusting. "This is not diet! You will pay!" He shot an arrow into the waitor's throat and charged into the kitchen roaring. He then exclaimed, "YAYAYAYAA!" as he slaughtered the chefs.

Mikita smiled in an admiration of sorts. _Ooh violent. I like that. _She snapped herself out of that thought as she grinned and got up, dragging a waitress into a nearby utility closet. She halted her shouts and no one seemed to notice this. Mikita came out a few minutes later with the waitress' costume on. The skirt gave her a wedgie as she pulled down on it, then shrugged as she picked up a nearby tea urn. She smirked evilly as she brought it to a boil with her firepowers, pouring it into large glasses. She took them to a nearby couple as she said, "Did you order the hot tea?" They stared at her and the man said, "Umm... no." Mikita looked at them and answered him by splashing the scorching tea in his face, giving him third degree burns as he shouted in pain. "Wrong answer! You want your tea!" Mikita shouted, and then she threw the glass at the woman's face. It shattered in her face and she screamed as well. Mikita casually walked up to another table on the other side of the restaurant. "Are you the couple that requested the death to go?" They looked at her in confusion, but then in fear when they saw her claws.

Leoko walked out of the kitchen disguised as a chef with a french looking mustache. He walked over to a table and used an accent as he said, "I am sorry. We are out of ze lobsta. We have zis instead!" He rapidly fired ice shards at them and then kissed his fingers. "Muah! Magnifique." Mikita chuckled at Leoko. "You look funny in that." Of course, Mikita's outfit wasn't the classiest, but it had a rather short skirt that the men couldn't keep their eyes off of. Mikita growled and threw fire blades into their throats. "Perverts." Leoko smirked. "Ouch. A little harsh eh? You know, y--" He stopped himself there, not wanting the same fate as the other guys. He decided to change the subject as he stroked his mustache. "I think this mustache looks rather thinning on me. Don't you agree?" He threw more ice attacks at other people as they tried to escape.

Mikita had almost gotten angered by what he was about to say, but then she shrugged it off and enjoyed his evil actions even more than that. "I think it makes you look creepy," she smirked. Leoko laughed. "That makes me feel better. I'm gonna take it off now." He ripped off the mustache and paused. "Ow... anyway," he took off the chef's coat as he looked at Mikita. "What I was going to say before is that you look great in anything, so it's not the miniskirt." He then went back to the kitchen to look for survivors. Mikita paused and thought about that for a bit, finally lightly smiling. She then snapped out of it and went to dump overheated coffee on the customers.

Leoko came back out after a bit and grinned evilly. "Let's make their teeth explode. Watch this." He borrowed one of Mikita's boiling coffees and then nearly froze a glass of water. He watched as one of the customers took a sip of the coffee. He wailed around when it burned his mouth, and then when he went for the water and took a drink, it made his teeth explode merely seconds later. Mikita busted out laughing. "That was so hilarious! You're a genius!" Leoko started laughing as well. "You know, we're laughing about making a guy's teeth explode, but it's just too funny. Thanks for the compliment. What do you want to do now?" Mikita smiled at him and said, "I don't know. We'll figure out something." They left the lifeless restaurant as they set off to find something else to do.

Later that evening when they returned to their cave, Mikita was laughing as she said, "I didn't know you'd start literally dying and shizz being near that volcano." Leoko was sweating as he said, "Yeah, and you know that when I am sweating it's something bad, because I never sweat. It's a bad sign... Phew!" he exclaimed since he was still burning up thinking about it. He took off his shirt as he leaned back on the cool ground. "Ahh, that feels better." Mikita looked at him and immediately became dazed out at his abs. She stared for a bit, but then she shook her head and tried not to think of it. Leoko looked at her and asked, "What ya lookin' at?" Mikita shook her head. "Oh, it's nothing." She smiled a nervous smile and looked away. Leoko smirked, realizing what she was staring at and he decided to tease her. He walked over to her as he gave her eye contact and moved closer. "No, it's something. What, is it my face? Is it my arms? Is it my... stomach? Is it my legs?" he asked as he went on and on, specifying his stomach more so.

Mikita smirked and decided to tease back. "No, it was your ass." Leoko smiled. "I'm touched that my ass is so appealing to you." He then looked at her a bit more, observing the darker tone in her skin. "That tan suits you well." Mikita smirked. "Same to you." Once she realized what she was saying, she paused and discontinued eye contact. Leoko blushed lightly. "Thanks... so, is giving compliments new?" Mikita gulped quietly. "Umm... could be..." She wasn't looking him in the eye, since she was nervous at the moment. Leoko sighed as he got up and walked off to the other side of the cave, not wanting to make her nervous. He felt of his arms and said, "Hmm... I'm getting lazy." He then got down on the ground and started doing pushups. Mikita looked at him and watched him while in thought. _He seems to understand me... that I am new to all this... I don't know what I'm feeling but... _She remembered the night that she kissed him and when she looked at him, her cheeks turned red slightly. At first, Leoko didn't notice as he continued his exercising. "21... 22... 23..." His gaze shifted over to Mikita and he noticed her pink cheeks as he smirked. He then went back to concentrating on his pushups. "27... 28... 29..."

Mikita took a breath of frustration and walked off to sit by the river. _What do I do? What am I supposed to feel?_ Her thoughts were interrupted by Tsuyoku's presence. "Well well. What do we have here?" Mikita growled at him. "You have no place to be here." Tsuyoku smirked at her. "I can be anywhere I desire. It's my right." He looked her in the eyes as he casually stood there. "All I have to tell you is that you are setting yourself up for a heartbreak my darling daughter. If you give up now and come with me, you will not witness a betrayal like the one that awaits your future." Mikita stared coldly at him. "I am betrayed by you everyday. What makes you think I'm going to follow you?" Tsuyoku shrugged. "Suit yourself." He vanished and Mikita sat there in confused thoughts. _What did he mean by that? _

After a while, Leoko stopped doing pushups as he looked around. _Where'd Mikita go?_ He walked out and found her by the river as he went to sit by her. "Hey. What are you doing over here? Something wrong?" he asked upon seeing her expression. Mikita looked out at the waters. "Nothing. It's..." She then paused and thought for a bit before she looked at him and asked, "Leoko... how do you feel about me?" Leoko paused for a pretty good amount of time. "How do I feel about... you? Well, you're probably one of the best things that's ever happened to me." Mikita looked at him questioningly. "I am?" Leoko smiled at her. "Yes you are. Why, is that surprising to you?" Mikita nodded. "Well... yeah. I've never been this close to anyone and... it's all new to me. Plus, after that one night I..." She froze there, not knowing what to say.

"When you kissed me?" he finished for her. "Yeah it surprised me too, but... I've never been this close to anyone except for my mother, so it's just as new to me as it is to you." He gave her a light hug as they sat there, smiling a warm smile. "Am I making you nervous?" he asked, holding her a bit closer. "I'm sorry if I am." Mikita smiled. "A little... but not all as much anymore." She leaned into the hug, but she was unsure of whether or not to put her arms around him in return since she was shy on these sorts of things. Leoko looked at her as he asked, "So, I forgot to ask... how do you feel about me?" Mikita looked at him and took a breath. "I have these... feelings inside... Feelings that I never had before... What are they?" Leoko gave a smile. "It's called love." Mikita paused. "I-It is?" She looked away in thought for a moment and then back at him. "You mean I lo... I have feelings for..." She couldn't finish her sentences since she was so unsure of herself. Leoko chuckled at her reaction. "Yeah, I guess you do love me."

Mikita nodded and forced a light smile as she leaned on his shoulder. A picture of a woman that resembled herself flashed in her mind and gave her saddening yet happy memories. _Mother... _she thought to herself. Leoko looked up at the sky as he held her, thinking of his family and what he could remember of them. Mikita then recalled visions of the ways her father would torture her mother and she seemed a bit fearful for the moment, but she felt the warmth of his body heat and seemed to scan his aura.

Nothing tainted. Nothing threatening for her.

She allowed the fears of her past to escape her as she leaned on him. _I can't think negatively. He is not like my father._ She looked at his hand and stroked it gently with her thumb. Leoko smiled, feeling her touch as he leaned closer and said, "Guess what?" Mikita looked at him. "What?" He smiled and replied, "I love you too." Mikita blinked. "But I never said..." Leoko grinned at this. "You told me just a minute ago that you did... just not directly." She looked at him curiously. "So does it mean any difference if I just plainly say it? I know there are people that believe so." Leoko shook his head. "Nah. As long as you mean it, that's all that matters." Mikita nodded. "Okay..." She continued to stroke the back of his hand with her thumb.

"Am I teaching you something here?" he asked, stroking her cheek gently with his other hand. Mikita looked at him. "What do you mean?" Leoko sighed. "Nevermind. It's stupid." Mikita noticed that she was stroking his hand and said, "Oh? You mean what I'm doing? It was kind of a habit that my... mother had. She always stroked the back of my hand with her thumb to show calm, sweet affections..." Just mentioning her made Mikita want to tear up, so she closed her eyes tightly and looked away. Leoko held her compassionately. "I'm sorry... for everything that's happened to you. I wish I could make it right," he said as he gently stroked her hair. Mikita blinked away any wateriness wanting to make its way from her tear glands before she looked at him with a light smile. "You are Leoko... You are." Leoko smiled warmly. "I'm glad I can make a difference." He leaned in and kissed her cheek lightly. Mikita returned the warm smile and leaned against him comfortably while stroking his hand again.

Leoko held her there for a long time. He looked up and saw the moon glowing in the sky, smiling at how big it was. He looked at Mikita and enjoyed how comfortable she seemed. He never wanted it to end, and neither did she. Mikita was happy there with him as she leaned on him and stroked his hand. She remembered her mother so much at that moment as tears tried their best to escape her eyes. She frowned and blinked rapidly to keep them away, then she leaned her head against him and closed her eyes. So many saddening and guiltful memories filled her mind. Leoko held her comfortingly. "If you cry, you won't be any different in my eyes." Mikita kept her face hidden. "I'm not crying," she said lowly before a sniff, making it obvious. Leoko smiled. "Okay then." He lifted her face by the chin as he looked into her teary eyes. He smiled lovingly at her as he said, "It's okay." Mikita felt the tears making their way out of her eyes as she pulled her chin away and jumped up, running off while pouting really upset. Leoko sighed as he walked back to the cave. He knew she needed some alone time.

Mikita was trying to dry her tears as she sat alone by the river. Tsuyoku showed up as he smirked at her. "Aww, is poor Miss Miki missing her mommy?" Mikita glared at him. "Shut the fuck up!" Her ears went back angrily and Tsuyoku grinned even more evilly. "Well hey. It's not my fault she died. You're the cause of dear ol' mommy's death." Mikita paused and her glare lightened at this realization. Tsuyoku saw his opportunity to get to her emotions. "You were the mistake that entered her life. You were the reason she died. You have no worth or value in your life." Mikita's emotions weakened more and more, then he kicked her hard in the side and knocked her over. Mikita didn't fight back as she gasped and fell down to the ground. Tsuyoku smirked and picked her up, throwing her against a tree. "You're pathetic! No one could ever have feelings for such a heartless wench such as yourself!" He kicked her and beat her more to where she could barely breathe anymore. He threw her roughly on the ground and scoffed as he started walking away. "Hn, you're weaker than you should be too. Pathetic girl." Mikita laid there on her side shaking, bruised and sobbing, bleeding quite badly.

Leoko walked back outside as he said, "Mikita, I understand if..." He saw her lying there and his eyes went wide as he ran to her. "Mikita! Oh my god... oh my god Mikita, are you okay? What the hell happened?" Mikita just curled up in a ball and continued to cry. Leoko glared off anrgily toward the trees. "Whoever did this show yourself now!" No one else appeared. It was silent around with no signs of other presences. Mikita coughed up blood and shouted out in pain and messed up emotions. She sat up and buried her face in her bloody hands. He turned his attention back to Mikita as he tried to comfort her, giving her some medicinal herbs. "I'll help you Mikita... it's okay." "No!" Mikita shouted out through her cries. "I'm not worth it..." She kept her face in her hands. Leoko frowned. "Don't think that. You're worth it, no matter what people say." He rubbed her back comfortingly. "Please don't say that."

Her crying seemed to turn into an angered hysteria of tears that made her cough up more blood. She took her hands away from her face and looked at them, all bloodied and teary. "It's all true. Why...? Just... kill me now..." She passed out unconscious. Leoko sighed. "Because it's not true. I'm not going to kill you. I... love you too much for that. You don't deserve to die," he said calmly as he stroked her hair. Blood trailed down the edge of her mouth as she lay there unresponsive. She was in a dream with her mother in it. Mikita smiled and ran up to her mother with wide arms to hug her, but she was stopped in her tracks by flames bursting in front of her. "Miki! How could you do this? AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!" her mother's voice yelled out among the flames. "MAMA!" Mikita yelled as she tried to pass up the flames. Tsuyoku's evil stare glared from within the flames. "You are to blame... you..." his voice echoed in the dream. Mikita's vision went dark in the dream and it faded out.

As she woke up, she noticed that she was in the cave once again near the fire. Leoko had apparently taken her back there. She gritted her teeth in pain and held her stomach. Leoko noticed her waking up as he went over to her and knelt down beside her. "You feeling any better? You're not bleeding anymore, but you may have some pains." Mikita nodded and slowly turned her head away with her thoughts. She stared gloomily off toward nowhere in particular. Her breathing rate was all mixed up, due to the damage that Tsuyoku had done on her lungs. He handed her a liquid as he said, "Here. Drink this. It will repair your internal organs." Mikita turned down the liquid as she lay there, refusing to take it. Leoko then looked down and asked, "Do you really think... that you deserve to die?" Mikita didn't respond as she stared at the cave walls.

Leoko frowned as he got up and walked out of the cave. He didn't go far, but he went far enough so as to give her some space. He walked over to a nearby lake as he looked out at the waters. His father showed up, grinning evilly, but Leoko just sighed. "Go away, I'm not in the mood to be bothered." Zakata grinned, seeing his chance as he put on a face of grievance. "I am so sorry, dear son. I guess Mikita just... doesn't care for you." Leoko glared. "Cut the crap. I don't fall for that shit." Zakata smirked. "So harsh to someone that's only trying to comfort you." Leoko instantly punched Zakata in the face. "You've never been a father to me! NEVER! So just fuck off before I kill you." Zakata glared. "You always were the stupid one in the family." He then vanished and Leoko rolled his eyes. "Whatever... I am pretty stupid though." He sighed and leaned against the tree behind him. "Ahh, much better."

Mikita remained in the same spot with the same blank stare. Leoko eventually decided to return to the cave as he sat on the opposite side of the cave. He sat there and twiddled his swords, looking at Mikita every few minutes. He then sighed, tired of not being able to do anything as he lay down and fell asleep. Mikita curled up on her side eventually and laid there until she fell asleep as well.

Back from the flashback: Leoko frowned at Mikita. "Yeah, I remember that... I felt so bad that I couldn't cheer you up." Mikita smiled kindly. "Don't worry. I don't feel that way anymore. It was all my dad's fault anyways." She then smirked as she asked, "Hey, do you remember what happened the next morning when we woke up?"

Flashback: Leoko woke up the next morning as he looked over at the sleeping Mikita. He sighed, not knowing what to do to cheer her up or make her feel better. He carefully laid a blanket over her as he walked out. The nearby river tended to be the place that he went often, water being his element and all. He took off his shirt and dove into the water. Mikita woke up not long after with a busting headache and many sore areas on her body. Plus, her eyes were sensitive from crying. She grumbled and stood up, walking out to the river. "I need a bath," she stated lowly. She couldn't see Leoko since he must have been under the water. She sighed and dropped her clothes as she jumped into the water. She came back up to the surface of the water and shivered. "Damn, that's cold." She used her powers to boil the water like a hot tub or a jacuzzi as she sighed in relaxation.

Leoko came up to surface quietly as he floated on his back. He then felt the temperature rising as he said, "Whoa, it's too hot. How'd it get so hot?" He then used his powers to freeze it again. Mikita fought away the ice as she boiled the waters again. "Where is this ice coming fro--" She paused when she finally saw Leoko. "Shit!" She hid behind a rock to hide her nudity. "What are you doing in here?" Leoko stood up and looked at Mikita as he froze in place. "I'm... relaxing I guess. I've been here for a while. When did you get here?" Mikita stared. "I just... well at first I was... Nevermind." She covered herself with her arms and tail as she got out of the water and walked back to the spot where her clothes were and put them back on. Leoko rolled his eyes and chuckled a bit as he lay back in the water again in order to relax.

Mikita walked off and made her way over to the edge of a cliff as she looked over it. The tall steep ledge, so far down. She leaned over it, looking down below with many thoughts within her mind. The wind blew her hair as she stared downwards. After a bit longer, Leoko got out of the water and noticed her by the edge of the cliff as he put his shirt back on. _What is she doing? _he wondered. Mikita's eyes were focused on the faraway grounds below, staring as a person that had the look of suicide and death in their eyes and hopes. Leoko got a slightly nervous look on his face. _She wouldn't... would she? ...Nah_, he thought to himself as he continued to watch her. She then seemed to take a step closer to the edge as she looked over it. This made Leoko jerk upon impulse as he moved closer. Mikita looked back at him through the corner of her eye. "Am I worrying you?" Leoko sighed. "A little, yes." Mikita turned to him. "Do you take me for a fool Leoko?"

"No I don't. It's just that the look in your eyes suggested it," he replied as he looked at her. She looked at him calmly, then back over the ledge. "I was seeing their point of view... wondering about those last thoughts before the fall. Would it have been worth it for them in the end? Would it have been worth it for me to end it now?" She paused as she looked back at him again and shook her head lightly. "No. Nothing so foolish as to prolong suffering is worth it if one is already in a hellish land of pain and suffering. What difference would it make either way?" She walked away from the ledge and over to him. "Don't take the wrong point of view." She gazed into his eyes before smiling lightly. "You will not lose me." Leoko smiled. "That's very noble of you, and I'm glad that that's so." Mikita nodded. "So am I." They smiled lovingly at one another as they gazed into each other's eyes.

Back from the flashback: Leoko nodded to her. "Yeah I remember that... and I'm glad that you came to your senses." Mikita smiled at him. "Me too." Leoko looked off into the distance as he said, "I kinda miss those days." Mikita's smile lessened a little as she too looked off at nothing in particular. "Yeah..." She then changed the subject as she said, "We seem to be remembering more and more each day. Soon we might be able to remember what made us break up in the first place." Leoko looked at her and nodded. "Yeah, I guess so... It must have been a pretty bad thing for us to just split up like that." Mikita looked at him and recalled all that Kachi had told them. "The goddess told us that we were already angry with each other before she zapped our memories, but she didn't say why." She then sighed. "I guess she wants us to 'learn a lesson' from all this... whatever that might be." Mikita thought about it for a bit longer as she said, "You know, since anger towards men was supposedly my last thoughts before the mind zap, then that must have been the reason I was so stereotypical towards males when I returned to my state of consciousness." Leoko nodded. "Probably was... but you changed yet again when you met Zoro." Mikita smiled a bit. "Yeah... I did." Leoko walked ahead as he said, "Must be fate then." He smiled, but she could tell that he missed being her boyfriend. Something inside told her she missed it too. It was only natural. They were so close, and they didn't even know why it all ended exactly. They both hoped that one day they would remember.


	30. Chapter 30

"Looks SO do matter!" yelled Karasu as she got up in Luffy's face while they were on the Merry. "That cutie had the best abs! He ROCKED!" Luffy shrugged. "But looks don't make someone strong." Karasu stood proud as she put her hands on her hips. "They give you a strong ego." Luffy crossed his arms. "But a strong ego can't smash boulders." Karasu giggled. "It takes a confident ego to gather up the courage to break through the boulder without holding back." Luffy shrugged. "What do you mean?" He used the Gomu Gomu no Pistol and shattered a nearby boulder. "I don't even have to think about it." Karasu sighed and shook her head. "Nevermind. It's too complimicated for you to understand." Luffy blinked. "HEY! NAMI! KARASU HAS SOMETHING I WON'T UNDERSTAND! CAN YOU TELL ME WHAT SHE MEANS WHEN SHE SAYS IT?"

Mikita woke up that morning to the sound of Luffy's screaming as she moaned sleepily and rubbed her eyes. She looked beside her sadly to see that she had woken up alone again, no Zoro there next to her. "NAMI!!!" Luffy was being chsed by both Nami and Karasu around the deck, Nami shooting Thunder balls at Luffy from the Clima-tact. Karasu was trying to slap Luffy with her long dragon tongue. Mikita looked down at them and blinked, then shook her head. She looked aside and noticed Zoro down there on deck. She climbed down from the crow's nest and walked toward him. "Hey Zoro..." Zoro looked at her in some surprise. "Mikita!? Umm... I'm sorry, I've got something I just remembered I need to do!" He got up to move away. Mikita looked at him slightly saddeningly. "But... is it really that important? So important that you can't spend time with your mate?" Zoro shook his head. "Sorry, I'll make it up to you." He then left. Mikita frowned as she stated lowly, mostly to herself, "You owe me Zoro." She sighed as she walked over to the other side of the ship.

Karasu looked at Mikita and frowned a bit as well, hearing her thoughts. She knew more than she had let her sister believe. She sighed as she walked over and stood by her. "Miki... I'm sure he's just got a lot on his mind right now. It'll get better." Mikita looked up at her. "You know what it is, so tell me." Karasu looked at her questioningly. "What do you mean?" Mikita rolled her eyes. "Don't play stupid with me. You read minds, so I know you've been invading Zoro's thoughts." Karasu looked down in defeat and Mikita said, "Tell me what is going on with his mind." Karasu didn't look at Mikita as she spoke. "Mikita, I don't know why exactly, but he seems to be trying to avoid you." Mikita looked at Karasu. "But why? Why would he want to avoid me?" Karasu looked at Mikita and replied, "I don't know, but he always comes up with some excuse to get away from you when you confront him." Mikita sighed. "I know... is he mad at me?" Karasu shook her head. "No... I didn't hear of any anger in his mind. Just the thoughts of him being tired of being near you and stuff like that." Mikita looked down sadly and Karasu frowned as well. "I'm sorry sis... I didn't want to tell you because I figured it was just a phase that you two needed to work out."

"But he won't let me talk to him long enough to figure it out," Mikita replied as she clenched her fists. "I don't get it. What did I do to make myself irritating to be around? Don't you know, Karasu?" Karasu shook her head. "No. It's like he's putting a barrier around most of his thoughts. I can't hear the biggest details of reasoning. If I knew, I'd surely tell you." Mikita half glared at Karasu as she said, "You didn't tell me about his thoughts thus far." Karasu looked away. "I know, I just... didn't want to hurt your feelings." Mikita shook her head. "It's okay... I can handle it. Really." She stood up and prepared to go find Zoro.

Along the way though, before she had even exited the ship, she stopped before running into Leoko. "Whoa! Leoko... hey." He nodded at her and replied, "Hey Mikita." He could see the hurt in her eyes. "What's wrong now?" Mikita glared off into the distance. "Zoro's ignoring me again. He's avoiding me." Leoko looked at her and asked, "You sure?" She nodded in response. "The mind reader told me." Leoko looked away. "Oh... why is he avoiding you? Is he mad at you?" Mikita shook her head. "No... not that Karasu could tell. He's just... trying to avoid me. I don't know why, but I wish I did. That's why I'm going to go find him and ask him about it." Mikita hopped off the ship and Leoko followed her.

They walked along silently for a bit before Leoko asked, "So, do you remember that time you first slept with me? You were on top of me when I woke up." Mikita blinked at him. "But we never..." He soon realized how that sounded as he said, "Oh! No! No, not like that. I meant... literally sleeping, not... that." Mikita chuckled as she replied, "Oh yeah, now I know what you're talking about..."

Flashback: Mikita was asleep on top of Leoko, her head resting on his chest. She slowly opened her eyes and stretched a bit. "Mom..." She woke up to see that it wasn't her mother she was sleeping on top of as she usually did as a toddler, but it was Leoko. She seemed a bit saddened at first, but then she lightly smiled as she gently ruffled some of his hair. Leoko woke up as he said, "Fooooood..." He opened his eyes and smiled at Mikita. "Hey there." Mikita laughed lightly. "Hey. You must be hungry huh? You were talking about food or mumbling something of the sort." Leoko smirked. "Yes I was dreaming of food." He wiggled around underneath her. "You're a comfy blanket."

"Oh... heh," Mikita responded as she got off of him and sat by him. "Probably squishing you." Leoko smiled. "No, you're not heavy. I meant that you really are a comfy blanket." He sat up and stretched as he said, "We need to do something fun today... let's go swimming!" he exclaimed as he jumped up. Mikita smiled and jumped up excitedly as well. "Okay!" She ran out of the cave laughing. Leoko laughed as well as he ran toward the river. He threw his shirt off and cannonballed into the lake. He came up and looked around. "Where'd she go?" Mikita smirked under the water and boiled the water underneath him. She then came up to surface and asked, "Warm huh?" Leoko shot out of the water and went flying in the air, coming down with a huge splash. He then came to surface and shook the water from his hair. "You burned my butt," he stated as he stared at her flatly. He then laughed and said, "And yes it's warm."

Mikita laughed a little, but then she tried not to let it be obvious that she was staring at his abs while his shirt was off. She shook off the thoughts and went for a swim. Leoko smirked as he watched her swim. He stared at her body while she wasn't looking, then turned away as he did laps. Mikita sensed the strange vibes from his emotions within his aura's releases and smirked as she continued to swim. _Typical male..._ Leoko grinned over at her as he thought, _Women. They have to be so sexy sometimes you just have to look_. He then decided to do a backstroke.

Mikita swam over to him and splashed him. "Gotcha!" Leoko shook his head clear of the water as he splashed back. "Gotcha back," he smirked, then tickled her with his waterpowers. Mikita laughed, but growled at the same time as she boiled the water with her firepowers. He eventually stopped and snickered as he evaded the hot water. "I've never heard growling laughter before." Mikita caught her breath and sighed. "Well, it's an impulse to do both since I am ticklish and it makes me mad to be tickled... I know. I'm weird." She laughed. Leoko smiled. "You're not weird. You just don't... Okay it's kinda weird but hey, it's all good right?" He splashed her again and swam off. A wave washed up behind Mikita, propelling her up on shore after him. She screamed in excitement and surprise as she ended up slamming into him. Leoko shouted as well, but then laughed as they slammed onto the shore.

Mikita ended up on top of him as she chuckled. "That was funny! I didn't expect that to happen." Leoko laughed lightly as he said, "Neither did I." He looked at Mikita and blushed slightly as he looked aside. "Well I love to swim." Mikita giggled and got off of him, sitting next to him. "Yeah! It was so random, and just so fun!" Leoko nodded as he got up, grinning at her as he picked her up like a sack of potatoes. "Let's go do something else!" He jarred her around a little as he tried to situate her comfortably over his shoulder. "Oof!" Mikita said as he picked her up. "Okay."

"Am I hurting you?" he asked. Mikita smiled. "No. I just wasn't prepared for the sudden lift." Leoko snickered. "Sorry, it's just fun to carry you." He walked over to the steep cliff as he made an ice ramp all the way down it and smirked. "You ready?" Mikita's eyes widened. "Ready for what?" Leoko didn't answer as he zoomed off, snowboarding down the ramp. He weaved and bobbed around as he did tricks and yelled, "WOOHOOOO!" Mikita clung to him and her eyes remained wide open in surprise and nervousness. "Don't drop me on the ice!" Leoko smiled as they reached the bottom. He let her down and let her stand next to the ramp, not on it. "There, that wasn't so bad was it?" he asked as he smiled at her. Mikita stood there and shivered. "Cold... still cold." Leoko enclosed her in a hug. "Here, some body warmth." Mikita smiled as she leaned on him. "Thanks." Leoko smiled as he stood there and held her in an embrace. Mikita purred as her tail wagged happily.

Back from the flashback: Mikita laughed. "I thought for sure you were going to drop me on that ice." Leoko smiled. "I'd never let that happen to you." She smiled back as she replied, "Thanks. I'm glad." She grinned as she hopped on his back, causing him to stumble a little. "Carry me?" He smiled back at her and laughed softly. "Anytime." He took hold of her legs in front of him as he started walking on with her on his back. Mikita smiled as she held on to his shoulders, looking down at her necklace that he had given her long ago.

Meanwhile, Leona and Sanji had been at the lookout for quite some time. The morning sun had risen and Leona had fallen asleep sitting next to Sanji, her head leaned on his shoulder. Sanji had also fallen asleep, however a smile was clearly visible on his face. Leona stirred and opened her eyes as she noticed where she was. She sat up slowly and looked aside at Sanji as she smiled warmly. She decided to rest her head on his shoulder again and relax for a bit longer. Sanji was still asleep, though his smile did become more pronounced. Leona grinned as she squeezed his upper leg muscles. "Sanji..." She did this in hopes of waking him. The cook's eyes opened. "Yes, Leona-swan?"

"Hi," she simply replied to him as she smiled. "Your leg muscles are so strong." She squeezed his leg muscles a bit more. Sanji smiled brightly at her. "Of course." Leona smiled back at him as she patted his leg. "You use these babies a lot in battles don't you? You've got them built up rather well." Sanji nodded. "I've been training with them for a long time." Leona gave a sweet smile and looked out at the sky. "We've been here for a long time now. Everyone's probably wondering where we are."

"I wonder where they are?" Karasu asked at that convenient time on the Merry while eating an apple. "It's time for a good balanced breakfast." Luffy nodded. "YEAH!" He then ran into the kitchen and came out with his cheeks bulging. Karasu smirked at him. "Leftovers. Pssh! I can't wait until Sanji gets back and fixes us a good meal. I wonder what's taking them so long?" Her eyes then widened as she shook her head. "Nevermind. I don't want to know." She took another bite of her apple.

Leona stood up at the lookout and stretched. "Well... should we get going back now?" Sanji nodded. "Yeah we may as well." Leona smiled and started to walk off toward the Merry. "Okay then." Sanji turned to see Leona. "Leona-swan, is there anything left that you want to do?" Leona looked at him and blinked. "Like what San-San?" Sanji blinked and thought for a moment. "There's a nice restaurant over there. We could always..." Leona blushed lightly as she finished his sentence. "You mean go on a... date?" Sanji nodded in response, crossing his fingers. Leona smiled and replied, "That sounds lovely." She took his hand and walked alongside him toward the restaurant. Sanji had a slightly triumphant smile on his face.

Once they arrived at the restaurant, she smiled and walked toward the entrance. "Ooh it's like a steakhouse..." Sanji looked at her. "So, you like it Leona-swan?" She smiled at him. "Yeah, I sure think I will." Sanji opened the door and held it for Leona. She smiled sweetly at him as she thanked him and walked inside.

Back on the Merry, however, things weren't as calm. "WHERE THE HELL'S SANJI!? I'm getting hungry." Luffy complained. Karasu sat down indian style with her legs and arms crossed. "Yeah, that pervert is making me STARVE! Oh forget it! I'm going after the leftovers!" She ran into the kitchen and took some leftovers as she stuffed her mouth. Luffy shoved an entire frozen ham into his mouth. "AAAAHHH! COLD!" Karasu's eyes widened. "COLD?! WHERE?!" She ran out of the kitchen, dropping food that she was carrying in her arms. Luffy swallowed the ham whole, and then started having what looked like a spasm. Karasu blinked at him and then shrugged as she stuffed some chicken in her mouth.

Zoro hadn't been seen for awhile. Nobody seemed to have noticed though. They were all too busy with their stomachs and eating leftovers. Sanji and Leona had no clue since they were on their date. Leona sat at the table across from Sanji as she looked at the menu. "Ooh, it all looks so good... I think I'll have the roast beef combo that comes with the cole slaw. What about you San-San?" Sanji thought it over. "I'm not sure yet..." Leona just smiled at him and looked back at her menu. "I think I'll have the Sprite to drink..." she stated lowly, mostly talking to herself in open decision-making. The waitor came to the table shortly after and asked, "Good evening. Have you decided what you will be having today?" Leona looked at him and replied, "We may need a bit longer to decide." She said this on Sanji's behalf since he was still deciding. The waitor nodded and asked, "All right. What can I get you to drink?" Leona closed her menu. "I would like a Sprite please." The waitor nodded as he wrote it down and looked at Sanji. Sanji thought for a moment. "I'll have some wine." The waitor nodded as he wrote it down, then bowed to them as he walked away toward the kitchens.

Leona looked around at all the decorations and pictures on the wall as she said, "It _is _nice in here." Sanji smiled. "Someday, I should take you back to the restaurant where I grew up. It'd put this place to shame." Leona grinned at him. "Your cooking alone would put this place to shame. It would put any place down." Sanji smiled. "Well, I've figured out what I'm having." Leona looked at him. "Oh, and what would that be?" Sanji pointed to the said meal on the menu. "The only thing on this menu I can't prepare myself." Leona blinked and stared at him expectantly. "Which is...?" Sanji simply indicated the item on the menu. Leona nodded. "Oh..." She didn't bother to take on the question any farther as she smiled a bit at him. "Sounds interesting."

The waitor brought them their drinks as Leona kindly accepted hers and thanked the man. Sanji nodded. "Thanks." He accepted his drink as well and the waitor then said, "Have you come to a decision?" Leona nodded and placed her order. "Yeah I would like a roast beef combo." The waitor nodded as he wrote it down, then looked at Sanji. Sanji nodded. "I'll have the broiled salmon in the tempura batter." The waitor bowed as he said, "I shall get your food to you as soon as possible. Thank you." He then walked off toward the kitchen. Sanji smiled at Leona winsomely. Leona smiled back as she put her hand over his on the table. "I'm glad you asked me out here San-San. It was sweet of you." Sanji's eyes transformed into hearts. "You're so welcome Leona-swan!" Leona giggled a little as she looked into his eyes. "You seem... different somehow." Sanji smiled. "Same as always."

Leona's smile lessened a bit at that, but she still held her smile. "Oh... Maybe it's just me then." She let go of his hand and used that hand to hold her glass as she took a drink of her Sprite. Sanji noticed the lessening of her smile. "Is something wrong, Leona-swan?" Her eyes seemed to sadden at even the point when he called her Leona-swan. She smiled a bit and said, "No. I'm fine." She took one of the dinner rolls set out in the appetizer basket as she took a bite of it. Sanji placed his hand on top of hers. "Please, what is it?" His eyes had a serious look to them. Leona frowned as she sighed silently. "San-San... it just doesn't seem to be. You're still..." She lightly shook her head as she looked down, stopping her sentence there. "It's nothing to worry about." She smiled a bit, though inside she seemed hurt. "I'm happy to be here with you."

Sanji smiled at her. "I might not be able to completely change my ways Leona-swan, but for you, I'm trying." Leona's eyes brightened a bit more at this as she made eye contact. "You are?" Sanji nodded. This made her feel a bit better as she smiled warmly. "I'm glad because... well... I love you Sanji." She seemed to blush shyly with the words that slipped from her mouth. Sanji's eyes widened. "Leona-swan... are you sure?" Her blush only became more visible as she looked nervously at him. "Mmm hmm," she replied as she nodded. Sanji looked at her and blushed a bit himself, but smiled. Leona knew that was all she would get from the moment, so she nodded lightly and slipped her hand away from his as she turned back to the appetizers, taking a bite of her roll again. Sanji smiled at her still.

Finally, it seemed their meal was arriving. Leona grinned gladly as she watched her meal get set in front of her on the table. She took in the smell as she said, "Mmmm..." Sanji waited for Leona to start before he would. Leona took a bite of her beef as she chewed it up. "Mmmmm this is good... but not as good as yours San-San." Sanji smiled. "Thank you, Leona-swan." He started in on his own, examining as he ate, as if trying to discern how to make the tempura batter. Leona washed her food down with a sip of her sprite as she looked at him. She then went back to eating.

Sanji had just finished his meal, and waited for Leona. She took her last bite as she pushed her plate away from herself a little. "Mmmm, I'm full now." She placed her hand on her stomach and leaned back on her chair. Sanji smiled. "Ready to go?" Leona nodded and smiled back. "Yeah, I'm ready to go if you are." Sanji smirked. "Alright." He helped her up as she stood on her feet. She took his hand and smiled warmly, locking her arm with his as they walked side by side. They left the restaurant without paying, advantages of being a pirate. As they walked back to the Merry, Leona walked along silently. Perhaps she was in thought, or perhaps she wasn't thinking at all and in a daze instead. Either way, she held a partial smile. Her main expression however remained neutral. Sanji then held her hand and interlaced their fingers.

Back on the Merry a new problem was arising. "Luffy, just because you miss one breakfast doesn't mean you're going to die! Stop acting like you're starving to death!" Karasu had taken all the rest of what was in the kitchen as she ate the last bite of shrimp. She then frowned as she held the empty plate. "Awww man... it's all gone." She then grinned as she stood up, sticking her pointer finger up in the air with a plan. "I got it! _I'll _cook something for us to eat!" She hurried into the kitchen and as soon as she got in there, pots could be heard falling like an avalanche. Everyone stayed clear of the kitchens and left Luffy there with Karasu. She looked around at all the ingredients in the kitchen as she thought about it. "Hmmm..." She started grabbing random things as she put them in a pot. She grabbed some celery, milk, cheese, peanuts, and strawberries as she mixed it all up in a pot. "I'm making soup!" she exclaimed with a smile as she crushed up the strawberries and stirred up her 'soup'. Usopp was on deck, practicing his marksmanship. "Sanji'll have a fit when he gets back."

Leona and Sanji were indeed on their way back as they approached the Merry. Leona stopped just before they got on the Merry and turned to face Sanji. "This was the greatest day ever. I had a great time. The lookout was so beautiful and the dinner was wonderful." She gazed into his eyes as she held his hands. She looked as if she were going to kiss him, but she seemed to back down from it as she let go of his hands. She gave a small smile as she turned to get on the Merry. Sanji went next to her, finally jumping up onto the deck of the Merry. Leona smiled at him and nodded, turning away from him as she headed toward the cabin. Sanji suddenly remembered something as he held up his finger, hoping she'd wait and hear him. "Oh Leona-swan! I lo-" Before he could get out the rest of his sentence, he was tackled by Chopper, Usopp, and Luffy. "KITCHEN! NOW!" Leona blinked back at him and shrugged, turning and walking into the cabin.

As Sanji entered the kitchen his eyes widened. "WHAT HAPPENED IN HERE?" Karasu turned to him from the stove with a smile. "Hi Sanji! Look! I made soup!" Strangely, there were foreign objects in the 'soup' as well, such as shoestrings and tree sticks. The kitchen was a wreck with pots and pans lying everywhere amongst spills of all sorts. Sanji looked around. "Aww... Karasu-chwan, were you trying to cook?" Karasu smiled widely and nodded. "Yup. I'm an expert." She boiled the liquids over as they poured onto the burner, catching on fire and igniting in flames. Karasu grinned. "Cool..." Sanji smiled. "Do you want me to help you Karasu-chwan?" She turned to him and smiled. "Sure! We can make a perfect dinner, especially with the help from this cuteness." She wiggled her butt and grinned with overconfidence. Sanji smiled. _Alright, maybe she should learn the basics first..._ Karasu nodded, having read his mind. "Good idea Pervy."

Sanji spent most of the day teaching Karasu how to cook. Karasu was a fast learner, because near the end of the day, she had learned how to cook a well done chicken and prepare a mean salad. She topped off her salad as she smiled, clapping her hands off in success. "There." Sanji smiled. "That's very well done Karasu-chwan!" Karasu hugged Sanji as she said, "Thanks Pervy-chwan!" She then went skipping out of the kitchen as she asked, "Who wants to eat my dinner? Hmm?" Luffy and Chopper both raised their hands. Everyone else just blinked and stared at her like she was insane. Karasu smiled widely and handed them her salad and chicken. "Here ya go!" Leona sweatdropped. _Oh no... _She closed her eyes as if to expect something horrible from their reactions. Luffy and Chopper started right in. "This is good!"

Leona opened her eyes again in surprise at hearing that. _They... like it? _Karasu looked at Leona and smirked. "Of course they do." Leona sweatdropped when Karasu read her mind. "Heh..." Nami blinked. "Hey... it is pretty good..." Robin and Usopp also gave their approval. Leona looked at the salad and asked, "There's not some kind of laxative in it... is there?" Karasu shrugged. "Not that I know of." Leona looked at it and dared to try a bite. As she chewed it, a smile slowly rolled over her face. "Mmmmm... this isn't half bad." Karasu skipped around the deck as she said, "You're welcome!" Sanji heard the talk from outside the ship, and he smirked in triumph.

Leoko was still carrying Mikita along on his back as he walked along. "Everytime I'd freeze the water, you'd boil it over and almost send me into shock," Leoko said as he carried her along the path. He laughed lightly as he bounced her a little. Mikita laughed and replied, "Well you'd do practically the same to me when you froze it back over." Leoko nodded. "True. I guess we had our differences eh? Perhaps... that's what caused us to go our separate ways." Mikita looked down a bit. "Maybe... I don't know." Leoko shrugged off his memories as he kept a smile and carried her on the way. Mikita however, had another memory that seemed quite useful.

Flashback: Leoko was chasing Mikita around as he playfully ran after her. Mikita laughed as she took off in a whirlwind. Dust flew up and that was all that remained. Leoko stopped and blinked. "Damn. I hate it when she does that." He looked around and up toward the treetops for her, but he couldn't see her. He smirked as he melted into a puddle of water, having no more bodily features and looking like an ordinary everyday puddle. After a bit longer, Mikita jumped down from a tree branch and said, "HA!" She stood straight and looked around in confusion. "Where'd he go?"

Sadly, she was standing right next to the puddle as a hand formed from it, shooting up and grabbing her leg. Mikita jumped a bit, but then looked down and smirked. "Should have known it was you." Leoko's body formed back as he stood behind her. He wrapped his arms around her from behind. "Gotcha!" Mikita shouted a surprised laugh as she put her hands over his that were around her stomach. "You're too sneaky." Leoko smirked as he replied, "Damn straight." He sniffed her head and she laughed, inching her head away from him. Mikita slipped away from him as she ran from him. She grinned as she looked back to see if he was following her, but he wasn't there. She turned her head back to look in front of her and there he was, smiling sneakily at her. She tried to stop, but she ran practically right up to him.

Leoko smirked and pounced on her, pinning her as he tickled her sides. Mikita laughed at first, squirming around and trying to get away. Leoko just laughed somewhat maniacally as he continued. Once the tickling carried on for a while longer, she started growling and wriggling around under him more. Leoko's eyes widened. "Uh-oh..." Mikita kicked him off of her and sent him flying through the air. He landed on his feet though, and Mikita sat up as she breathed heavily. She grinned at him and said, "You know that I double in strength when I'm provoked to growl." Leoko laughed as he smiled. "Yeah I know. It's still fun because you hate being tickled." Leoko smiled playfully as if he were going to do it again, but he halted when he saw Mikita's eyes. She was giving him the puppy eyes, the irresistible pout. Leoko covered his eyes. "No! Not the eyes! Awww... All right. All right. I won't do it." Mikita smirked. "Never fails."

Mikita heard a noise behind her as she quickly turned to look in its direction. Leoko was still standing and covering his eyes with a smile, but he was then pulled back into a bush, not making a sound other than ruffling leaves. Mikita heard this and turned to see Leoko, but he wasn't there. "Leoko...?" She smirked and said, "You can't fool me again. I know you're there." Leoko, or rather a man that seemed to be him, came out of the bushes with a grin. "You caught me. I guess I can't sneak up on you anymore." Mikita smiled. "Nope." Leoko walked closer and Mikita focused on his eyes. Oddly, they were red in hue. "What happened to your eyes?" Leoko smiled. "Nothing really. Just a change in appearance. Why? Does it not appeal to you?" Mikita shrugged. "I can do that, but I don't want to." She didn't realize that she was about to encounter betrayal. "So, are you hungry? We can stop by the market on the way and use the five-finger discount."

The imposter smiled. "We can do that later, but for now..." He walked up to her and tenderly embraced her. "I just want to be with you." Mikita smiled and hugged back, not knowing that a dagger was being drawn slowly behind her back. She purred as she nudged his chest. "Leoko... I love you." Ironically, she didn't hear the same after what she said. Instead, she felt a stinging sensation go through her back, a seering pain that made her pause instantly. Her eyes widened and her mouth opened as she felt the pain, looking up into his eyes in shock. "Leoko..." The one she thought was Leoko had jabbed the dagger into her back, his evil red eyes staring into her own. She then knew who it was, but she had no time to react before she fell unconscious.

Back from the flashback: Mikita realized what had happened as she gasped. Leoko heard this and asked, "What's wrong?" He stopped and let her down, turning to face her. Mikita stared fearfully into his eyes. "Tsuyoku... he's the one that pitted us against each other." Leoko's eyes widened. "... I remember that now." His surprised look turned to an angry one. "He's the reason that you and I never became mates... He made us believe a lie." Mikita looked down. "And he made me hate men... feeling betrayed and unable to trust again." She looked up into his eyes sadly. "That's why I never could tell you that I loved you." Leoko frowned as he looked into her eyes. Without thinking, he hugged her close to him and held her in his arms. "Mikita, you never had to tell me... I already knew it." Mikita hesitated for a moment, but soon hugged back as she slipped her arms around him. "You're right... it's the thought that counts." She smiled a little, but Leoko frowned as he held her tighter. "I never should have let that happen to you... I wish I could have stopped it." Mikita's smile disappeared as she remained in the embrace. "It's all right. It wasn't your fault."

Conveniently enough, Zoro happened to be walking through the same area that Mikita and Leoko were in. And even more conveniently, he stumbled upon them just as they embraced. His eyes then grew hard. "Mikita...?" Mikita's ear twitched as she sensed her mate's presence. She let go of Leoko and looked back at Zoro. His eyes seemed so much different at that moment, looking as if he were disappointed in her. "Zoro..." He just glared at her. "I thought we had something Mikita!" Her eyes widened. "No! It's not like that...!" She attempted to step closer to him. Zoro pushed her away. "Shut up!" This hit her emotions hard as she paused, gasping lightly. Her eyes shook with sadness as her eyes looked into his. "If you'd just let--" she began to explain. This time, Zoro actually hit her across the cheek. "Just shut up! Right now, I wish I'd never met you!" He then turned and stormed off. Mikita was frozen in shock, standing statue-still as she watched him leave. Her cheek was red where he had struck her and she couldn't believe that he had done that to her.

Leoko hadn't done anything at first. He stayed out of the fight and didn't react much, at least not until he saw Zoro punch Mikita. He wanted to hit the swordsman right then and there when he did that, but he knew that would have been stupid. When Zoro left sight, Leoko sighed and looked at Mikita. "Mikita... you know we didn't mean it like that and... I'm sorry that he... did that to you." He wasn't quite sure of what to say or do at the moment as he looked at her, watching as her sadness grew. Tears began to form in her eyes as she made a sound, trying to hold back her tears. She then just started walking. To where? She didn't even know. Her eyes stared somewhat downcast as they didn't register as anything other than blank and watery in hurt.

Leoko frowned as he watched her go. He glanced at Zoro and then followed Mikita. The saddened wolf just walked on as she held her rosy cheek that was slowly gaining shades of light purple. Leoko continued to follow her as he called her name. Mikita stopped, but didn't turn around to face him. Leoko stopped as he stood in front of her, trying to look into her eyes that she kept leveled at the floor. "Where are you going?" He saw a tear fall to the ground and noticed her shaking. "Don't know," was all she said, and even this sounded very low in its volume. It also resembled a 'don't care'. Leoko looked at her. "You can't just leave everyone there. Zoro still wants you there, Leona still wants you there... Karasu will make the boat explode if you're not there," he chuckled lightly. This didn't even bring a hint of a smile to Mikita's face. "He doesn't want me there." She stated this almost emotionlessly. Leoko looked at her. "He may not, but I do as well." He smiled kindly at her. "It's nice to finally meet someone that I have known for years... well sort of anyway, but everyday we relive those memories and..." He stopped his sentence as he saw her odd expression.

Mikita was suddenly overtaken by a strange feeling as she was jerked into a vision. The memories that happened next returned to her in this forced vision: After a while that they were together, Mikita began to notice a strange difference in Leoko. He grew a bit less romantic and didn't seem as desirative toward her, so this made her wonder what was going on through his head. She decided to go over to him and talk to him. "Hey Leoko. What are you up to?"

Leoko was sitting against the wall of the cave. He looked at her and smiled, though it was different. Something wasn't the same, perhaps it was his posture. She couldn't tell. He gave a shrug as he said, "I don't know. Why? Does it seem like something's wrong?" Mikita shook her head and thought that it might just be all in her mind. "No nothing's wrong." She then smiled and hugged him. Leoko sighed as he lightly hugged her back. Mikita noticed a difference in his reaction and looked at him strangely. He didn't seem to be into the embrace, as if he were rejecting it. "What?" Leoko held a small smile. "Nothing."

Mikita decided to let him go as she asked, "What do you wanna do today?" Leoko shrugged. "I was going to go get some food, or possibly train. I don't know." Mikita nodded. "Well okay then. I'll start a fire to cook our raw meat on." She walked farther into the cave and started a fire, curious as to why Leoko wasn't as romantic. Leoko walked out and turned his attention to a waterfall nearby as he used his powers to slow down the waterfall. With all the water coming down, it would be hard for him to halt it for very long. Mikita just sat by the fire in thought, waiting on him to return. She felt a strange sense of rejection, sensing that something unusual was up with him. He was usually clingy and loving, but now he was desiring distance.

Leoko returned with a big armful of salmon as he dropped them in the cave. He then went to sit on the opposite side against the wall. Mikita poked a salmon with a stick as she roasted it over the fire. She dazed out at Leoko, wondering why he was staying so far away from her. He didn't say anything, but it seemed as if he were in pain. Mikita looked at him and tilted her ear. "What's wrong?" Leoko shook his head and replied, "Just a headache I guess." Mikita sighed and went over to him, sitting by him and leaning on his shoulder. He smiled and put his arm around her a bit. "Thanks." She smiled back at him as she said, "No problem."

Leoko leaned his head on Mikita's as he frowned a bit. "Ugh, my head hurts." She nuzzled him lightly. "I'm sorry." He looked at her as he curled a small smile. "It's okay. It's not like it's your fault, right?" She just smiled and remained leaning on him. Leoko rested there with her, and he seemed as romantic as he typically was as he leaned in and kissed her cheek. Mikita smiled at this, feeling that any rejection she had felt earlier was all in her mind. When he nuzzled her, she wagged her tail happily. He then began to massage her back with the arm that was around her as he smiled warmly at her. Mikita purred as she held his hand, and Leoko laced their fingers in response as he caressed her.

Mikita smiled and wrapped her arms around his neck while hugging onto him. Leoko wrapped his arms around her waist as he leaned in to kiss her. Mikita smiled on the inside and allowed him to kiss her. He kissed her tenderly while holding her close to him, his hand softly squeezing her side in a soft pattern. Mikita pulled away from the kiss and said, "You seem so multi-personalitied lately." Leoko looked into her eyes as he gave a shrug. "I think it's just your imagination." Mikita shrugged back. "Could be." She then leaned in and rejoined their kiss, and he did the same as he held his lips there. Mikita ignored the fact that he seemed to ignore her earlier that day. _It's in my imagination I guess. _She then withdrew from the kiss after a little bit and laid her head on him.

Leoko held his head again as he closed his eyes tightly, gritting his teeth. "Ahh, my head again," he groaned as he let go of Mikita to walk outside. She raised an eyebrow and went to follow him. "Leoko?" He ignored her as he leaned against a tree, holding his head. Mikita approached him slowly. "Leoko? Are you okay?" He looked at her with a near glare. "Does it _look _like I'm okay?" Once he realized that he snapped at her, he looked down and frowned. "Sorry... it just hurts." Mikita just stared and stayed back, not knowing how to react. Leoko got up and went over to her as he gave her a light hug. "I'm sorry." Mikita just stood there, not knowing whether to return the hug or not at first, but she soon did as she wrapped her arms lightly around him in return. "It's okay." He sighed in relief as he said, "That's good. I would hate myself if I hurt your feelings." He then let go of the hug after kissing her cheek gently, walking back over toward the river soon after. Mikita began to feel concerned for the way he was acting now. She watched him walk off and stared strangely. _What has gotten into him?_

Back from the vision: Mikita shook her head as she returned from it. Leoko looked at her curiously. "Mikita, what's up? Why were you standing there like that?" She looked at him as she answered, "I... I saw a vision." He looked at her with a bit of surprise. "Really? Of the future?" Mikita shook her head. "No, of the past. You were acting a bit like Zoro, starting to reject me and all." Leoko then seemed to remember that as he made the face of realization. "Oh yeah... I remember that. I had that headache that periodically bugged me." Mikita looked at him questioningly. "How come you weren't as romantic?" He looked at her almost blankly as he replied, "I... I have no idea." They both seemed to stand there and ponder on the memories, trying to figure out the motives behind the actions.

"It's like... it wasn't me," Leoko said as he looked down in thought. Mikita nodded. "I know. I didn't think you'd do that on your own accord." Leoko shook his head. "That's just it. I wouldn't. I don't hardly even remember that. I can't remember why I was acting so weird. My thoughts were all so jumbled then." Leoko then froze in his place as he began to have the next vision from the past:

He was sitting by the river, staying secluded from her again. She stood there looking at him, hesitating to approach him. He had been getting snappy at her. Mikita was curious as to why he didn't show any affections toward her anymore. She decided to approach him and ask him about it, since she knew this wasn't his normal way of acting. She walked up behind him twiddling her thumbs. "Umm... Leoko?" He looked at her with an annoyed face, his tone matching his expression. "Yeah?" This expression she soon looked away from before she glanced back. "Umm... you seem to be avoiding me. Maybe it's just in my mind, but..." Leoko looked away from her. "That's it? Well whatever. I don't know either." Mikita half glared. "You see. I don't like your tone. There's something wrong, now tell me what it is." Leoko glared at her as he raised his voice at her. "Shut up woman! Sheesh!"

Mikita glared back. "What the hell is your problem?" she yelled. Leoko rolled his eyes. "Maybe I'm tired of being hurt by your sorry ass!" Mikita looked at him angrily. "What do you mean by that?" "Don't say shit like that. You know what I mean," he retorted as he stood up. He turned away from her carelessly as he said, "Get out of my life." As he walked away, she stood there in surprise at what he had just said to her. She then glared in the direction that Leoko had gone. "Fine... FINE! I hate men! I'll never trust your kind again you traitor!" Her eyes glared, but inside it reflected sadness and betrayal. Kachi watched nearby, looking down sadly at what had just happened. She knew what she'd have to do. _I have to punish them for their deeds, and now I see how I will do it_, she thought as she vanished. She planned to erase their memories of their first lover.

As Leoko walked on, he ignored her comments to him. _Good. Ignore her. You don't need her. She won't show you the love you desire, so why look to her for romance? _a voice in his head told him as he walked along the forest. _Leave her. Hate her_. Leoko glared as he walked on, giving in to the thoughts.

Back from his vision, Leoko's eyes widened as he looked at Mikita. "Mikita... I know what happened! I know why I was acting like that... because it wasn't me." Mikita tilted her ear in confusion. "It wasn't you?" Leoko shook his head. "No. It wasn't my thoughts. Someone was telling me those thoughts. Someone was giving me subliminal messages, someone that wished to separate us since he wanted to get you all alone with no one to interfere." Mikita stared angrily before her as she came to a realization. "Tsuyoku."


	31. Chapter 31

Back from his vision, Leoko's eyes widened as he looked at Mikita. "Mikita... I know what happened! I know why I was acting like that... because it wasn't me." Mikita tilted her ear in confusion. "It wasn't you?" Leoko shook his head. "No. It wasn't my thoughts. Someone was telling me those thoughts. Someone was giving me subliminal messages, someone that wished to separate us since he wanted to get you all alone with no one to interfere." Mikita stared angrily before her as she came to a realization. "Tsuyoku."

"Exactly," Leoko replied as he nodded, an angered look on his face. Mikita also glared in anger, her eyes glowing with hate. "He's the reason you and I broke up, the reason I hated men and had no trust... the reason Zoro did this. He's doing the same to my mate. Since Zoro and I actually became a mated couple, he's determined to stop it so I won't be as powerful. He stopped you and me before, and now he was unable to stop me and Zoro sooner, so he's really sending stronger thoughts of hatred into Zoro's mind." Mikita looked down and shook her head in disbelief and unsurety. She then took off running as she said, "I have to tell him."

Zoro was walking back to the Merry, his eyes dark and his mind active. He felt betrayed by Mikita. As if she'd only done everything she had with him just to bring him up, then bring him crashing down even harder. The rest of the Strawhats saw this as he arrived back at the ship and promptly got out of his way, even ones like Luffy. Mikita arrived not long after he had, looking up at the Merry and dreading what his reaction might be. She gulped and finally said, "Zoro..." hoping he'd come down and talk it out with her. There was no answer from the swordsman. "Zoro!" she repeated again, hoping he'd hear her and the urgency in her tone. This time there was only an angry sounding response. "Piss off."

"Zoro please..." she pleaded, not responding with anger herself. "I said piss off! Mikita-baachan!" was the retort she received from him. Mikita still didn't give up. "Please? There's something I have to tell you! It's important!" "Why don't you tell it to Leoko then!" Zoro snapped. "Because this does not concern him! It's about you and me! You don't understand!" Mikita yelled back, trying to reason with him and get him to come down so she could calmly tell him what was going on. "Just go away Mikita! I don't want to talk to you!" Zoro was still being stubborn and it hurt her. She knew that he had the wrong impression of her and Leoko. She hadn't hugged him for romantic reasons, but for sorrowful and memorable reasons. It was an apologetic hug, but she understood why he felt that she was cheating on him. She knew she had to set things straight. Tsuyoku had already progessed too far on Zoro's mind. "Zoro please! Just listen to me!"

_'Go to her. Go to her and show her who's boss. Get her to admit her faults. She cheated on you, did you wrong. Now you must get her back,' _Tsuyoku implanted into Zoro's mind, making him believe they were his own thoughts as he had been doing all along. Zoro then pushed himself up, climbing down from the birds nest. Mikita saw him jump down and noticed his angered expression, which made her step back a couple steps out of nervousness. His eyes seemed almost murderous. "I told you to piss off Mikita! If you want someone to talk to, then go talk to your boyfriend! Because you and I are finished!" Mikita stepped back again at seeing him approach her angrily like this. "Zoro, he is not my boyfriend," she stated in her defense. "There's something I've figured out today and I need to tell you..."

_'Don't listen to her. She's lying to you. She'll only make up excuses. Just ignore her words and take out your anger on her,' _Tsuyoku implanted again into Zoro's thoughts. "JUST SHUT UP YOU USELESS WENCH!" he was provoked to yell. Mikita still didn't want to argue back and make it worse, though she had no idea how bad it really was already. "Zoro, these are not your thoughts! Please just listen to me!" This time, Zoro punched her across the face. "I said piss off. Next time that'll be with one of my swords." Mikita's hand went to her cheek as she gave a look of surprise and shock. "Zoro! Please just listen to me! Don't do this!" Suddenly from out of nowhere, Leoko jumped in and hit Zoro across the face just as he had done to Mikita. "Don't hit her!" She looked at Leoko and said, "Wait Leoko! Don't!" Zoro glared at Leoko and then slammed his fist into Leoko's nose. "Yeah, it figures you'd stick up for her doesn't it?" he yelled angrily.

Leoko's nose began to bleed and he was angered now even more than before as he swung a harder punch at Zoro's face in response. This hit Zoro's cheek and then he responded with an uppercut to Leoko's chin. "Stop this!" Mikita shouted to them, but they didn't listen to her. Leoko fell back a bit, but shook his head as he glared at Leoko. He took out his icy boomerang as he threw it at Zoro. The swordsman ducked this and then tried to throw Leoko into the air. The weapon turned back around in the air and went for Zoro, grazing his left arm slightly. Leoko smirked as he caught the boomerang, evading his move to toss him. "Leoko stop fighting!" Mikita yelled once more. Leoko just ignored her, too caught up in a rage as he drew his sword.

_'Leoko and Mikita are just trying to get rid of you so they can live happily ever after. Mikita never loved you. That mark is a lie. Destroy it. Destroy her mark and you will be freed from her.' _Zoro glared, and then smirked. He twisted his body ever so slightly, so that Leoko's attack hit Mikita's mark directly. Leoko's blade cut into her shoulder as the mark bled. The cut was quite deep and Mikita gasped, her eyes widening. Leoko's own eyes flew open with the mistake that Zoro's movement had forced upon them. Mikita knew right then that she never should have run over to the fight. Her eyes shook with sadness and pain as her mark slowly disappeared. Not long after hers disappeared to nothing but a bleeding wound, Zoro's mark dissipated and left his normal skin in its place once again.

Zoro seemed to ignore this, sending a punch at Leoko, even though in his mind he was smirking in satisfaction. Leoko blocked with his arm as he glared at Zoro. "You did that on purpose! WHY DID YOU DO THAT?" Mikita's eyes shook with sadness as she looked at Zoro in shock of what he just did to her. She fell to her knees, shaking since she was so upset. She had failed to reason with Zoro, and now she lost the only thing in her life that kept her going: Her mate. Tears formed in her eyes as one trailed down her cheek. This was true heartbreak for her, as it hit her hard. She had never cried in front of anyone like that without caring if they saw her.

_'Good. You destroyed all you have, now you have to live with it. Too bad you never listened to your lover. Return to your own thoughts and burrow in the sorrow of your mistake.' _Tsuyoku's implantations on Zoro's thoughts ended there, giving Zoro control over his mind once more. He had succeeded in what he was trying to accomplish. Zoro blinked for a moment, a dazed expression on his face as this happened. Mikita still sat on her knees, not even bothering to heal her wound as blood poured down her chest from her shoulder where the mark once was. She heaved in a breath of sadness as she felt the heartbreak of the situation getting worse with her realization on the matter. Leoko stood still and kept an eye on Zoro, awaiting to see if he would try and attack again.

Zoro still had that dazed look on his face. Abruptly his fist clenched and he gritted his teeth. Leoko noticed this about Zoro. He didn't seem the same. He knew something odd was going on as he watched the swordsman's reaction. Leoko looked back at Mikita as he heard her saddening sounds, frowning at her. Zoro's fists were clenched so hard that it hurt, his eyes suddenly wide. "I... I..." Leoko looked at Zoro when he heard him speak again. Zoro didn't finish the sentence, instead jumping off the ship and running into the forest. Leona and Karasu stood by the door of the cabin. They had seen it all. Karasu was baffled though as she looked at Leona. "I don't get it though. All he wanted to do was get rid of her. He didn't want to be with her anymore, but after he destroyed the mark, all he felt was regret. I could hear all his thoughts after that. It hurt him so bad. I just don't understand..." She then blinked and looked off at nothing in particular. "Is Zoro going emo or something?"

"No," Leona replied to her sister, getting her to look at her. "I know what's going to happen..." Karasu looked at her demandingly. "Well what is it?" Leona looked at her. "I'd rather not tell you." Karasu rolled her eyes. "What part of 'mind reader' do you not comprehend at times Leona?" Leona sweatdropped at this. "Heh..."

Mikita was in pain, physically and emotionally, as she wiped away her tears and attempted to stand on her feet. She was still lightly sobbing as she looked off in the direction that Zoro had run off to. Her eyes were narrowed sadly as she held her shoulder. She couldn't even find the strength to heal her wound with her overwhelming gloom, but she still held it as a tear rolled down her cheek. Leoko watched her, slowly taking a step toward her. "Mikita..." She didn't look at him, but continued to look out in the direction that Zoro had gone. Leoko just stood there and left her alone as he looked downcast. He didn't know what to do or say now.

"Awww, what a touching moment," a sarcastic voice stated from behind them. Mikita looked behind her and an evil glare of hatred soon took over her expression. "Tsuyoku," Leoko stated with an angered glare of his own as he unsheathed his sword. "You did this!" Tsuyoku glared. "Maybe I did." Leoko's glare darkened. "You don't deserve to live for what you've done." By these words and his stance, Leoko was calling him out. Tsuyoku was about to take the challenge when Mikita stepped in front of Leoko. "Don't involve him in this," she stated almost emotionlessly, her stare fixed on her father. Leoko paused and blinked at Mikita in confusion. "Why are you protecting me?"

"I'm not protecting you," Mikita replied, "I'm keeping you out of my battle." Leoko stood in somewhat of surprise at her words. Mikita soon looked back at him after a bit and sternly said, "Step back." Leoko nodded as he did just that, giving Mikita the courtesy she required. He didn't want to even think of debating with her now. He could see the hidden held back rage within her eyes. Leona and Karasu ran over toward the scene as they called Mikita's name, but Leoko held his hand out to them and restricted them. He didn't want them to interfere with Mikita's battle either.

Zoro was still off in the forest, sitting against a tree, head bowed. "Zoro!" a voice called out as it ran closer. It was Karasu, trying to get his attention. "What?" He practically yelled at her. Karasu immediately shot a glare at him. "DON'T YOU YELL AT ME!" She then captured her cool again as she took a deep breath. "Look, you need to get back here quickly. Something awful's going to happen!" Zoro simply and carelessly replied, "What do I care?" Karasu glared darker. "Listen! Leona had a vision and it might be too late!" she warned. "It's about Mikita!" Zoro's ears perked up. "I'm listening." Karasu rolled her eyes. "Oh yeah, _now _you listen. If I was in trouble, you wouldn't come rushing to save me. Nooo, you'd be all, 'Good riddence,' and I'd be all... dead."

"Just hurry up and tell me!" he yelled. "What did I tell you about yelling at me? Bad Squish! Now you made me forget what I was going to say! Oh but you don't care anyway! You wouldn't care if I was having a heart attack or falling off a cliff or..." Karasu continued to ramble on with nonsense. Zoro stood up and punched Karasu full across the face. "Just give me the freaking message!" Karasu's first instinct was to swing back. "BITCH! Don't you be hitting me when I'm trying to tell you about Mikita! JEEZ!" Zoro however, ducked the punch. "Then get to the point!" Karasu growled. "YOU CAN'T DUCK MY PUNCHES!" That was one thing she couldn't stand as she sent another punch at him. "Keep it up and I'll kill you again, but this time Mikita won't be around to revive your sorry ass!" Zoro glared. "SHUT UP!" He caught Karasu's punch and twisted her arm around to her back, shoving her down, in the classic 'arm-behind-the-back' maneuver. Karasu contorted her body to where she could wrap her legs around his neck. She pulled and flipped him around, sitting on his chest and squeezing his neck with her legs. "Now you're literally brother squish," she stated with a big ear-to-ear smile.

"I can't believe you'd stoop so low as to drain me of my happiness and newfound power," Mikita stated with a glare at her father. Tsuyoku just grinned. "Hey, I wouldn't be evil if I wasn't lazy." Mikita's glare only darkened more as she let out a low growl. "I will kill you for this. This is the last time you hurt me!" She hurriedly unsheathed her Dragon Tail in the sword state and slashed at him in her rage, but it wasn't enough to help as Tsuyoku blocked with his arm. It was as if his arm was made of steel or something strong enough with similarity of the sort. His reflexes were undeterminable as he stared her in the eyes with his evil charm. This only angered Mikita even more as she retreated her weapon and swiftly went in for another attack while running at him. Tsuyoku simply sidestepped as if it were no big deal to dodge.

Mikita extended her sword into its whip state as she whipped it around his right leg, yanking on it and attempting to pull him down. Tsuyoku flipped backwards, but only used this as an advantage as he did somewhat of a backhandspring, his leg jerking Mikita with him. She flew through the air as she let out a brief noise of surprise, her weapon unraveling from his leg as she landed roughly on her feet a good distance from him. Her attack had left a few scratches on Tsuyoku's leg, but not enough for satisfactory results. She stumbled and her back was to him. That's when she heard, "Mikita! Look out!" from Leoko. Mikita looked back and saw Tsuyoku dashing at her, drawing his own sword. Mikita held up her sword and blocked this attack in the nick of time, her stability rattled from the clash. Leoko sighed in relief as he looked at Leona, who looked at him with the same hopeful face. They both hoped that Mikita was strong enough now to defeat her father. Mikita was injured, heartbroken, and drained of half her power. There was no telling at this point if her rage would be enough to save her.

Meanwhile, the dispute between dragon and swordsman was still raging on, with no particular point for it even established. "YAYAYAYAYAYAY" Karasu leaped on Zoro's back while screaming a battle cry in a high pitched tone, right in his ear. Zoro was now really pissed. He performed an elbow strike to Karasu's throat. Karasu then slithered around to the front as she evaded this attempt, biting him on his shoulder near his neck. She made odd fake growling noises as she went rabid on his shoulder. It was almost as if she were being halfway playful in her battle, only to confuse the opponent. Zoro glared furiously at Karasu, drawing the Sandai Kitetsu and slashing at her left ear.

Karasu grabbed his wrist and stopped him, then pushed him down as she sat on him and continued to bite. She bit down harder on his shoulder near his neck, so hard that a large chunk of skin was severed. This would leave a large chunk of a scar, just as the one that he had left on her back. It was clear that she was more serious, but more importantly had forgotten her original mission of confronting the swordsman, or so it seemed. Zoro glared darkly and drew all three katana. "Oni Giri!" This created a large explosion as Karasu and Zoro were engulfed in a puff of smoke. Karasu was nowhere to be seen once the smoke cleared out. At least not on the ground. She was now in the air. The attack had hit her, but when she was sent through the air, she had transformed into her dragon form and began to fly.

"I can't believe how dense you really are Zoro," Karasu said as she flew in her dragon form. "And man do I hate smoke... reminds me of Smoker... Anyway, as much as I would love to stay and kill you all over again, now is not the time. Mikita's in trouble and we could already be too late, and it's all because you wouldn't LISTEN TO ME! You always think you have to prove your freakin' point!" "SHE'S WHAT? YOU DIDN'T SAY ANYTHING ABOUT THAT!" Zoro exclaimed in surprise and anger at her. Karasu glared. "Well I thought I made it quite obvious earlier by saying that she might not be around any more to save your sorry ass! Jeez! Don't you listen?" Zoro glared. "YOU SHOULD'VE BEEN MORE SPECIFIC!" Karasu just rolled her eyes. "You should have listened closer."

With Mikita however, two new voices were heard. "Gomu Gomu no Pistol!" "Collier Shoot!" A an extended punch came flying at Tsuyoku's face, at the same instant as a roundhouse kick flew up at his throat. Mikita's first instinct was to growl at the ones who interfered with her battle. "Stop," she demanded, still sitting on the ground. She was holding tight to her sword in the ground, attempting to use it as a tool to help her to her feet, though she didn't stand. "This is my battle. You owe me the courtesy of doing this on my own. So back off." Leoko and Leona looked at her neutrally, knowing how much this battle alone meant to her. She had been waiting her whole life for it, from the point of early childhood.

Luffy and Sanji stood in front of Mikita. "No. We're nakama. We're gonna stand by you no matter what!" Mikita glared darkly at them. "What did I just tell you two? Look, if you want to stand by me, then stand on the sidelines and be my pansy cheerleaders. This is my fight, not yours." Mikita slung them aside and made them land somewhat near Leoko and Leona. Leona looked down and blinked. "You okay San-San?" Sanji was just lying there with swirly eyes. Tsuyoku wasn't pleased with the interferences either as he put up a barrier of fire around him and Mikita, encircling a pretty good distance around them. It was as a dome of their own battlefield. Mikita stared him down, prepared to fight as she remained on the ground. Why did she not get up?

Leona was now restraining Luffy and Sanji by the back of their shirt collars so they wouldn't interfere. Fate had already chosen its ways and nothing could undo it. Besides, she knew that Mikita could handle herself. Somehow, someway, she'd pull through. Mikita didn't have as much strength as she had wanted, and this only ticked her off more as she slashed at Tsuyoku's already injured leg from her sitting position. Tsuyoku growled as the attack hit and scraped his leg a bit worse. This only made him even angrier as he backhanded her, throwing her to the ground as she grunted. He then kicked her in the stomach as he glared at her. "Just who do you think you are?" Mikita whimpered a bit from the pain in her stomach as she lay there on her side, but she hurriedly latched her claws into both of his legs as her claws traveled deep into his flesh. Tsuyoku shouted briefly and kicked her off, blood trailing down his legs. He glared angrily at her as he threw her, slamming her into a tree as she yelped.

Leoko jerked and wanted so badly to run and help, but he knew better than to interfere. He knew Mikita had something up her sleeve. She always did, especially with repetitive maneuvers. Tsuyoku walked toward her, limping slightly on his right leg as his red eyes stared in fury at her. Mikita stood up weakly, but smirked when she saw his limp. "Remember how my mother always held the sneakiest of techniques? Well her traits are hereditary." Mikita held her whip-like sword and slung it back into the sword state, keeping her eyes on Tsuyoku's. He only continued to walk at her as he smirked. "Pssh! What would a useless wench like you have up your sleeve?"

Mikita smirked as she seemed as if she were going to attack somehow, but then Tsuyoku growled and stumbled forward with a certain pain. Mikita's ears perked at seeing an icy boomerang fly from out of the blue and target the back of Tsuyoku's knee. The weapon flew back to Leoko as he grinned when he caught it. The attack had torn some ligaments, which damaged Tsuyoku's leg more. Mikita smirked at Leoko, seeing that he knew the progression of her plot. Tsuyoku glared back at Leoko, and this gave Mikita a chance. She knew that if she didn't hurry, he'd heal his wounds and all attempts would have been in vain. Mikita raised her sword in the air, the blade aimed toward the ground. "This one's for you mother... HELL'S MANIPULATION!"

"WHAT?" Tsuyoku yelled as his head snapped back to look at his daughter. He recognized the yell of the attack's name, and apparently he feared it. Mikita slammed the sword blade into the ground and the earth began to rumble like an earthquake. Leona gasped at the sight. "No way... Mikita's mother was never able to pull this off. This was the most difficult and risky of techniques." Leoko looked at her. "Why? What happens?" Leona just watched as she signaled for Leoko to do the same. Soon he'd see what Hell's Manipulation could do, and how it earned its name. Tsuyoku looked down beneath his feet as a crack in the earth traveled between his legs. He tried to step back, but his speed was hindered by the leg injuries. Just what Mikita had in plan as she stared him down, watching her attack take place.

Tsuyoku stumbled aside as the earth split open in a wide gap, revealing a boiling fiery lava pit within the hole. It was as a lake of fire and brimstone. Tsuyoku stood on the edge of it as he tried not to slip into it. Leoko watched as his eyes widened. "Whoa... Go Miki!" Mikita never broke her concentration to gloat as she kept her eyes on her father, awaiting the rest that was to happen as she held her sword strongly into the ground. She growled and drove the blade deeper into the ground, which created another rumble. Tsuyoku's eyes shot open as far as they would go. Out of the fiery lake arose the shape of a hand within the lava, made of the fire itself. It was nearly the size of his body entirely as it emerged from the pit. "No!" he yelled as he tried to run from the flaming hand. His attempts to escape failed as the hand tracked his body heat, grabbing onto him around him as it pulled him in toward the pit. Tsuyoku shouted in pain as the fire burned him and took him down. Although he was a fire apparition, the flames were even hotter than he could comprehend. Upon his disappearance left his fiery barrier as well.

"That was her plan," Leoko stated as he watched. "To injure his legs so he couldn't run from the attack. I'm still amazed she had the power to pull it off. She won! This is amazing! After all these years!" Leoko looked at Leona, who didn't hold the same triumphant smile. "What?" he asked her, looking at her curiously. "Why aren't you happy about this?" Leona never answered as she watched. She knew what was meant to happen, and there was no way she or anyone else could stop it.

Tsuyoku was pulled into the fiery pit, consumed completely as his body submerged under. Everyone nearby watching cheered for her victory, but soon the victory would turn and become bittersweet. Suddenly, the hand shot up from the lava again as it shot at Mikita. Her eyes flew open widely as she saw it, but she didn't have time to react before it snapped its burning fingers around her. Mikita yelped and shouted as it began to pull her toward the same fate as Tsuyoku. "Mikita!" Leoko yelled as he tried to run over to her, but the heat from being near the incomprehensible heat of the flames caused him to yell and jump back. He couldn't go anywhere near his weakness. "MIKITA!" Mikita howled out loud in pain and fear as she was pulled down helplessly, wiggling around in the painful scorching grip. Leona's lower jaw began to tremble as she experienced the nausea of her precognition. Her hand shot over her mouth as her eyes watered. She was unable to fight her tears upon seeing what she had already seen.

Mikita was slowly edging closer to the lava pool, reaching her hands out and trying to grab onto the ground. Her claws were extended, but she still couldn't reach. Zoro came running through the forest, cursing Karasu for wasting his time. Karasu was flying above him, glaring down at him. "I HEARD THAT!" Mikita saw them approaching in the distance as she was being pulled down into the fiery pit, only to see that Karasu had reverted back to her semi-human form and tripped Zoro. "That'll teach you!" Leona saw this and shook her head. "Karasu! Now is not the time!" Mikita was now consumed from her upper stomach and on up as she shouted with the seering pain. Zoro went down hard on his face. He was taking longer to recover than he should have, due to the fact he didn't think Karasu would have done that considering the cirumstances. He pushed himself back up.

Mikita's shouts grew louder and she had been pulled down past her breasts now, and the fiery lava was near her neck as it consumed her. The pain was nearly unbearable, even for a half fire apparition herself. Leoko was in a panic, but Leona was standing frozen still, looking aside. She couldn't watch, not again after she had already seen it. Karasu was glaring at Zoro and was about to kick him down again, but then she noticed Mikita and the seriousness of the situation. "MIKI!" She tried to run toward the fiery pit, but a flaming hot energy blast threw her back and she couldn't get close enough. "AHHH SHIT!" Mikita was grabbing aimlessly at the air with her hands as her eyes narrowed in fear and sadness.

Zoro pushed himself up and started running for Mikita again. She saw him as she reached for him, but she was already covered up to the neck. She yelped and her face was submerged under the flames. Her hand was the only thing still above surface, but it soon sank as well. She was gone. The hellish void cooled down and covered over as natural earth again, since the weilder of the attack had been betrayed by her own attack and it was over. Tsuyoku was gone, but Mikita had also paid the price, just as Leona had seen it. A tear fell from Leona's eye as she kept her gaze at the ground. Karasu's only reaction was no reaction at all as she stared blankly at the place where the hole had been. Zoro stared where Mikita had been, vacantly. His own hand partially outstretched, having begun to reach for her only moments before she'd gone under.

Leona released Luffy and Sanji as they faceplanted, unable to move or react due to shock. Leoko frowned as he looked at Leona. "You said she had a plan... you said she could do this on her own..." He was hurt as he looked at her, not knowing why she hadn't told him this. Zoro's eyes were still staring, disbelieving. Karasu's eyes still held the blank appearance, as if she couldn't register in her mind what had just happened. "It's fate Leoko... fate." That was Leona's only response as she turned and walked back to the ship slowly. The only thing left behind from Mikita was her sword, the Dragon Tail, as its end remained stuck in the ground. Every member of the Strawhat crew simply stared in disbelief. Zoro started silently shaking. Could this really be the end of Mikita?

Leoko couldn't believe it himself. He loved her, though not in a romantic manner as he used to, but he still cared just as deeply. Losing her took its toll on him as well as he tried to remain gathered inside, but it didn't go too well. Leoko unsheathed his sword as he started cutting at the ground where the hole had previously been. "Mikita!" he yelled, desperately trying to re-open the ground. Zoro's reaction was different. Entirely. He felt immense waves of guilt coursing through him... and he took them out on the nearest source available to him. In an instant a fist filled with helpless rage slammed into the side of Karasu's cheek, followed by another, and another. Zoro was taking out as much of his rage and frustration on Karasu as he possibly could. If she had simply gotten to the point, he could have made it. If she hadn't tripped him, he could have made it in time, he'd been less than a meter away! The 'what could have happened's swirled through his head as his fists barraged Karasu.

Oddly, Karasu didn't fight back, but rather sat there and took the hits. It was as if she wasn't there in her mind, as if she couldn't feel the hits. Her body was jarred when punched, but her facial expression remained neutral throughout each punch. Zoro was putting the full force of his rage behind his fists, drving Karasu down to the ground. Karasu was still not reacting to the punches as she was literally pounded into the ground. She reacted as if she were an inanimate object, as a hammer to a nail. Once the punches of aggression ended, Karasu didn't move for a bit longer as she remained chest high in the ground. Finally she wriggled out of the ground and walked away, the same blank expression on her face, though she was bruised quite a bit. Zoro had retreated and had his forehead pressed to a tree.

Leona and the others sat at the ship later that day. It was quite a gloomy day, even with Karasu since she was sitting in the corner of the ship with a blank stare at the floor. She hadn't said a word for hours, which was extremely unlike her. Leoko looked at Leona and asked, "Why didn't you let me stop her? Why didn't _you _stop her if you knew this was going to happen?" Leona looked at him and replied, "Because the future is binding, and what is foretold to be cannot be reverted to another ocurrence." Leoko looked down. "Yeah but I could have..." "No... the fire was too hot for you," Leona intervened. "What is done is done..." After his initial explosion on Karasu, Zoro had said nothing the entire day. Even Luffy seemed put out.

Sanji was actually trying to think of a way to cheer up Leona, but was failing. Leona sat there and looked at him as she sighed. "Sanji... I just can't believe she's gone." Sanji looked at her sadly. "Why would you let that happen if you knew it might occur?" Leona averted her eyes downward. "Fate, Sanji. Fate has to run its course and there's nothing we can do about it. It couldn't have been stopped anyway. Hell's Manipulation is a powerful move that even her mother couldn't pull off, and even if she could have, she wouldn't have lived through it either most likely. You see, the manipulation takes no sides. It can turn on its weilder. It's a risk Mikita had to take. Once it takes a hold of its prey, the hold cannot be released. I couldn't have interfered anyway. She wanted to do it on her own. It was her battle... no one else's. We all owed her that."

A new voice came out. "But she'd won. Hadn't she? There was no reason we couldn't have interfered." Robin was now walking towards them. Leona looked at Robin with almost flat eyes. "Zoro of all people understands giving the courtesy of one's own battle. It's obvious that you don't." She glared at the floor. "I wanted to help, but the determination in her eyes... She had a plan... she carried it out... all in the risk of it all." Robin smirked slightly. "But, the battle was over, was it not? Tsuyoku had been dragged into the pit. I could have saved Mikita, even if none of the others couldn't yet I was refrained by Luffy who was acting on your orders."

"The hold was final," Leona almost shouted in sadness. "Even if you could have gotten a hold of her, the grip could never have subsided." Leona then looked at Robin a bit more calmly as she stated, "And now you see what fate didn't allow." Robin shrugged. "I may have been able to get her out before she was caught. Besides, do you want to be responsible for more than just one death?" Leona was getting aggravated even more now. "Are you going to stand here and argue with me to no avail? Seeing that precognition and watching it occur was not something I had on my to-do list. If you felt you could have attempted a rescue before she was turned on by her attack, then by all means you should have. However, you didn't know it was meant to happen that way, now did you? Now drop it." Robin nodded and turned away. "I can. But I don't think Mr. Swordsman will."

Karasu was still sitting alone in her own little corner, staring blankly with no expression at a speck of dirt on the ship's floor. Leona frowned and looked at Karasu as she sighed. "Poor Karasu... she hasn't said anything for hours." Leona decided to get up and go over to her. "Karasu? ...Kari? You okay?" Karasu still didn't move or respond at all, and Leona's expression only saddened her more. "Look, I know this is hard to swallow, but... come on. Please... say something... anything." Still, all she received was the young dragon's silence. Leona looked down as she sighed. "Ugh... I can't get her attention."

Karasu finally looked up at Leona after what seemed like forever. "I'm sorry, I was dazed out. What were you saying?" Leona instantly faceplanted. "Oh jeez..." Karasu blinked at her. "What?" Leona just shook her head as she stood. "Nothing." Her tone still sounded gloomy. Karasu stood up as she said, "Oh, you mean about Mikita? Eh, she'll be back. She always has tricks up her sleeve. Cheer up Leo." Leona just continued looking downcast as she sat down by Sanji again. Leoko looked at Karasu strangely as he asked, "Why aren't you affected by this? I thought you'd breakdown about it." Karasu shrugged. "Someone's gotta be optimistic around here. All this moping and pouting around... DEPRESSING!" Karasu looked at Leona as she smiled. "I bet I can cheer her up."

Karasu walked closer to Leona as she sat in front of her, making eye contact. "Leona, you'll never succeed in life. Give it up already. Just lay down and die why don't you? I mean, you're getting old now. Look at you. All those freakin' gray hairs. Is that a wrinkle? Eww, I can't even look at you." Karasu turned her head away and Leoko looked at Karasu in surprise at how she insulted Leona. "Karasu..." Oddly to their surprise, Leona started to giggle. Leoko raised an eyebrow at Leona as he asked, "Why are you laughing?" Leona only started giggling more and Karasu looked at her again with a smirk. "And let's not forget those boobs that could knock over the entire ship alone. You probably smother yourself in them at night. You can't even lay on your stomach they're so big!" Leoko was completely confused as Leona began to laugh even louder. "HAHAHAA KARASU...!"

"And that ass. Oh jeez! Don't even get me started with that freakin' bulldozer. You should have one of those devices that beeps when you back up. Oh and some reflectors too. Don't forget the reflectors. One day that ass will be the death of us all." Leona laughed so hard that she fell over in Sanji's lap, holding her stomach and almost crying in laughter. Karasu grinned at Leoko, who was still in utter bewilderment. "That always cheered her up." A rock came flying from off the ship, smashing into the side of Karasu's head. Karasu glared off the ship into the direction from which the rock flew from. "Blame a girl for trying to help!" Zoro was glaring at Karasu darkly from where he was. Karasu simply shrugged and walked into the cabin.

Leona stopped laughing finally, wiping her teary eyes from all the laughter as she sat up and lifted her head from Sanji's lap. "Oh... Karasu is so hilarious sometimes. She sure knows just how to cheer a girl up. She could even get Miki to..." She paused there and almost frowned yet again, resting her head in his lap once more. The happiness didn't seem to last long. Luffy looked back to where he'd seen Zoro. The swordsman was gone. Sanji was holding onto Leona's hand, looking down at her sadly. "What's the point of having foresight if you can't do anything about it?" Leona relaxed her head in his lap as she looked up at him, lightly stroking the back of his hand with her thumb. She sighed as she replied, "Believe me, it's no ride at the amusement park." "But can't you stop it?"

Leona frowned as he asked her this. It was such a repeated question to her. She gave a silent sigh as she made a serious note. "Sanji... If I knew the truest answer to the question, it wouldn't be so frequently asked of me, now would it?" Sanji sighed. "Sorry." Leona smiled faintly as she sat up, patting his hand softly. "It's okay. It's only natural to ask such things of me out of curiosity." Sanji nodded dully. Leona then got up as she said, "Well... there's something I need to do." She looked back at Sanji, then walked off.

Zoro was deep, _deep_ in the forest, where it was damp. The dampness masked his scent. Leona walked up to him as she stood in front of him. "Now how did I know you were here? Coincidence? No... that's not it... I saw it in a vision," she slightly joked, but soon became serious. "Now, Zoro... we need to talk." The swordsman simply replied, "Piss off." Leona sighed. It wasn't easy reasoning with him anymore, but she stepped closer anyway. "Zoro, I think you should have this..." She pulled the Dragon Tail out from behind her as she sat it horizontally in front of Zoro. "You would probably be the only one she'd entrust it to. You've already got three swords, but maybe you can handle four. At least... just keep this one with you. It would mean a lot to her." She looked at him for a moment, then turned and walked off back toward the Merry to leave him alone. Zoro just sat there, looking at the blade.


End file.
